Path to a New Beginning
by vinpap
Summary: After the Fall, everybody was affected, everybody had a story to tell. Weiss is at home, Blake is gone, Yang is depressed and has PTSD in Patch and Ruby... Ruby is off in the world with JN R. But some people can't stand still and have to move forward. And when one piece get's in motion, all the other pieces begin to move with it
1. Trailer 1 - Lost Someone Dear

**A.N.: Just a quick warning, this is the first major thing that I ever write in English and my first ever fanfic. This was inspired by a prompt on the RWBY subreddit, that asked us what would a RWBY trailer that we would like to see would look like, and I really wanted to get back into writing so... Here I go.**

Each chapter will be written with a different style, and/or perspective. You'll see as you read along, don't worry.

* * *

A sob was heard softly in the woods. You could hear them if you listened closely, it was almost covered by the sound of the wind. However, something heard it and it dashed in the way of the cries, running through the forest, jumping over rocks and sliding under downed trees.

The girl turned around and gasped as something stopped right in front of her and she falls down, sitting on the ground. The form just smiles at her and it stands down, getting on one knee and putting her hand forward, laughing softly

"Don't worry little girl, I'm not going to hurt you."

The small girl looks at the form and she blushes when she realises it's just another woman. It's not a monster, only someone that wants to help. She smiles and grab the hand in front of her and she gets up with the other woman, stroking her clothes to remove some of the dirt.

"so, tell me… Why are you here little girl? It's dangerous to be alone in the woods alone and you should know it."

"Yes, but… I was with my mommy, and then I saw this bird and… And now I lost my mommy"

The smile slowly disappeared from the woman's face, she simply rubbed the younger girl's head, ruffling her hair, which earned her a pout coming from the child.

"I've also lost a lot of people, but… Don't worry sweetie. I'll help you get back home and you'll be able to see your mommy again."

The smile came backto her face, but if you looked closely, you could see it was fake, it was forced to reassure the little girl.

"Are you from the south or the west?"

And thus they slowly walked, the younger girl talking on and on about what the wonders of the forest that she was seeing, while the other woman walked alongside her. She didn't talk as much, but she was smiling and she told her a few times that she really reminded her of someone she knew. Someone with whom she had shared so much wonderful memories. And the little girl smiled and giggled, before darting off again, having seen a river just further away.

After half an hour, the finally got to the outskirts of the village and the little girl began to yell for her mommy. The older woman had an half smile looking at her, happy for her, but also sad about what had happened to her and those that she had lost.

"Thank you miss, you've been so kind! You're so the bestest ever!"

"It's nothing sweetie, I'm glad to-"

"Violet, get away from that woman! She's dangerous!"

The older woman jerked back as she turned to see the one who yelled and she looked down when she saw a woman with purple hair, only a shade darker than the one of the small girl that she escorted, running in their direction, . She distanced herself from the child, while her mother grabbed her and pulled her away, glaring at the hooded figure that stood beside her child a few instant before. The older girl sighed and began to turn around, heading back in the forest, back to her home.

"Hey, miss! Miss! You've never told me your name!"

The older girl almost fell down and yelped slightly when she saw the young girl right beside her, smiling, while her mother was running, not nearly as much energy as her child had. The older girl smiled and removed her hood, a cascade of blond hair flowing on her back, lilac eyes observing the little girl, while a smile slowly crept to her lips.

"Well, Violet, since I know you name, I don't really have a choice, haven't I? I'm Yang, maybe you've heard about me."

The little girl smiled and nodded, giggling.

"Yes, but those people who told those story don't know you, because you're not as mean as they say…"

Yang's smile faded and she stood up, ruffling the hair of Violet, sighing softly.

"Who know… Maybe they don't."

"Hey Yang? I hope you'll find the people you lost, just like you made me find my mommy."

A lonely tear slowly ran down the brawler's face, before she began walking away, waving slowly at Violet.

"Who knows… Maybe I'll find my mother or my team too…"

"I'm sure you will Yang!"

"Thanks Violet… I'll think about you when I do. Pinkie promise"

* * *

 **So, I tried to write something with low description and more dialogue. It's actually something I sometime enjoy in stories, when the story moves quickly but characters interact between each other.**

 **I believed that it would feel right with Yang as she was also the one that was the most damage by the events that occurred at the Fall, she seemed that she was getting more and more to the point, direct when she was talking with Ruby, instead of rambling and doing a lot of talking.**

 **So... Yeah, maybe not the best thing ever, but for me it means a lot, it's one of the first thing that I've written in months**

 **Also, quick note, this is a repost from what I had already published on AO3 and that I'm posting over here, one year later.**


	2. Trailer 2 - Bird in a Cage

It had been a few months already. How many? Six? Eight? She couldn't remember and, actually, she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think at how long it had been since she lost everything. She had been able to make herself at home. She had friends who cared about her, not for her name or her money, but for who she was. She had fought monsters, fanatics, criminal masterminds, murderers, psychopaths and more. She had fought for her life, but she never felt so much alive before. She had been free and now, she couldn't be Weiss anymore. She had to be Miss Schnee, heiress of the most powerful entity, after the kingdoms, in all of Remnant.

As if losing her friends, her new family, her school and most of all of her freedom was not enough, she wasn't allowed to continue her training to become a huntress anymore. She was now stuck in this lifeless mansion, always clean, always perfect, if not more than perfect, always empty if not for the many servants.

She was, once again, a bird in a cage. But even birds in cages dream to fly again. So she did the only thing tat she could to keep this illusion of liberty, of freedom, of her past, she kept practicing her glyphs. Even if her summoning was still weak, she was happy of her progress. If only her sister could see it, if only Ru…

She tensed up in her chair, holding back her tears as her father had instructed her, drilled into her head.

"A Schnee does not cry. A Schnee has too much pride to be allowed to feel or appear weak."

And because of her father expectations, she was turning back into the ice queen. She was losing everything her team, but most importantly her friends, had helped her achieve. She was getting colder, meaner and harsher with everyone. And once again it was because of her father. And once again, she was unable to prevent what her father had decided for her.

She took deep breaths to try and ease herself back in her chair and closed her eyes, repeating the mantra her friends had taught her. In by the nose, out by the mouth, in by the nose, out by the mouth, in by the nose… Once she was finally calmed, to think about the songs she had begun to write, to never forget the wonderful times she had spent with the most amazing team that Beacon Academy ever put together.

 **Ruby**. They had started on rocky grounds and she was the one to blame. Well… Ruby didn't helped herself either sometimes. The red speedster was so eccentric and crazy and energetic and happy and… So loveable. Once she had begun to get used to Ruby's attitude, the heiress realised just how much Ruby cared for everyone. And not just for her team, no, literally, for everyone. And they were able to become friends. It had come slowly, but it still happened eventually.

 **Blake**. Blake was particular, special. She kept to herself and was somewhat secretive and when the secret that she was a faunus was out, she had to reconsider everything that she thought was true. She began to stop hating the faunus as much as before. Yes, she still hated the White Fang with all her might (and it had only been more powerful since… That day) but the hatred wasn't pointed at all faunuskind now. And after a long week end of worry, when the heiress and the faunus reunited, they talked and put all their different aside, enjoying the silent company of one another, enjoying their little breaks from the sisters from time to time.

 **Yang**. Yang was… Well it's impossible to describe Yang as something else than honest, caring and gentle (or brute, depending of the situation). She had taken care of their team since the beginning, trying to reconcile Weiss and Blake as well as Weiss and Ruby. She had been supportive, friendly and kind. Something that was ever shown to her by her own sister, Winter, and she could never thank the blond brawler enough.

And she kept going like this for what seemed like hours for her, thinking of Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, Sun, Neptune, Team CFVY, even Flynt and Neon, everyone that she ever met because she had the chance to go to Beacon. She kept thinking about them until she passed out, falling asleep on music sheets, one with the title Red like Roses, another one titled Mirror Mirror and a final one named It's my turn.

She woke up quickly in the morning as she heard knocking at her door. She quickly put on something more decent and opened her door, a servant looking at her.

"Mr. Schnee would like if you could come to his study in exactly…" He looked at his watch to assess the time it was now "nine minutes."

"As If I had any choice… Thank you Rusty."

She closed her door and promptly changed her attire, getting into a long white and grey dress, with minimal jewelry, only her earrings, in the shape of snowflakes. She quickly put on light make up and headed out to her father's study, making sure to take as much time as she could, knocking at the door at the exact moment she was asked to do so. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door and entered, staying as close to the door as she could.

The first thing that she saw was that someone, someone with copper hairs, was sitting on one of the chairs. She wondered who it was, only seeing the back of their head. After observing the unknown person, she moved her gaze on her father who, as usual, was cold and stoic.

"You wanted to see me father? "

"Yes. You will prepare your luggage and will go to Vacuo. Some of our investors and commercial partners are getting worried and we fear that they may form a rival company that will be supplying Vacuo in dust. You will meet them, them that everything is okay and respond to all their questions. Am I understood?"

"Yes, you have father."

"Good. Also, you will be having an escort and you will be guarded at all times by Miss Polendina here. Also…"

Weiss, in shock, was not listening anymore. Did her father just say… Polendina? As in…

The person in the chair stood up and turned around, the clothes, hair and face may not have been the same, but her eyes, smile and voice hadn't changed at all.

"Of course Mr. Schnee, sir, I will protect Miss Schnee at all cost. I'm combat ready!"

She looked at Weiss and winked at her and Weiss smiled slowly. In retrospect… Maybe she will be able to get her liberty, her wings, back. She turned around and headed back to her room, tears flowing freely, uncontrollably on her cheeks. She was both happy and sad. Penny had brought back awful memories that she didn't want to think about, but at the same time, she was so happy. She finally found something worth getting a hold of.

When she got to her room, she looked at a picture, showing four girls smiling, a red speedster, a white heiress, a black cat and a blond brawler. She slowly took it off the wall and hold it in her hands as her tears fell on the glass, she smiled.

"Wait for me team RWBY, the Ice Queen, the Snow Angel, Weiss Schnee… No, just Weiss, is coming back for all of you. And when she does find you, we'll all be happy like we used to."

 **Last chapter was description light, this time it's 95% of the work. Weiss as always been someone that keeps her feeling to herself. But what if she used her muscial background (we know that she can sing) to write about her friends or her feelings? Also... Well, why not make it so the music is also in the universe now?!**

 **And yes, I did bring back Penny, because I just love her so much, her happy personality, she's a sunshine in a hurricane of despair. And I did also want to make it end on a good note, so...**


	3. Trailer 3 - Scaredy Cat

**One day since we arrived.**

A lone hunter… It was a lone hunter each and every time. Man, why does it keep happening? It has to be a small organisation, because every time, where ever we were, it had always been a lone hunter. And they kept dealing with our patrols so swiftly, that the only hint that they had for us, was that they wore white coat.

We had been followed all the way from Beacon to Vacuo and to Mistral, and each time that we would set up camp, a few days later our men would begin to get knocked out. So up until a few weeks back we had been moving the white fang's remaining as a single unit, but now we had split up. Adam and Banesaw were back in Mistral, while we… We are supposed to harass the trade routes coming in and out of the city. But as soon as we set up camp, some men swore that they saw white coats around the area. At first I thought it was impossible. We are just a little group, the main force of the White Fang is with Adam back in Mistral, so why target us with multiple agents? I'll have to look into it in the following days. Maybe the boys are only getting paranoid.

 **Five days since we arrived.**

Everything seems good. We didn't see any white coat since the first day, and we got some new orders. We have to make people fear us, so we'll have to begin to attack villages in the surrounding area. Adam hopes that the same tactic that we used in Vale will work again, that if we begin to attack human civilians while not touching faunus innocents, people will turn their back away from them and they'll want to join us again. But I doubt it will be useful once again. As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. They will wait a second move like we did and I doubt that they will let us do it again. Also we don't have the support of Roman or his associates this time. It's all on us again. Damn, Roman would have been really useful right now. I wonder how he's doing, we haven't heard of him since the train incident.

I'm adding this part around five hours after the first part, we lost a patrol, but it looks like they fought a Beowolf and they were eaten by him. However we weren't able to track back the Beowolf. I really wonder where it went, since we aren't really that far. Also it's weird that they didn't fight back. They must have really been caught by surprise

 **Eight days since we arrived.**

The white coat is back again and it's doing a hell of a good job. We already lost 10 people. They went in a nearby village to get some food and water, as well as any useful things, but they never came back. In fact, they never made it to the village, we found them all knocked out while police officer and huntsman were there. We had to pack and move, we went to another region about 25 km east of where we were. And when we woke up this morning the masks of all the guys we sent out, were on one of the tables that we have. We have reinforced the night patrol shift and we sent out a demand for reinforcement, but I doubt anything will be done in time. We'll have to lunch a massive attack in the nearest village soon, or else this expedition will be taken care of before anything had been achieve

 **Nine days since we arrived**

Oh fuck this, I'm so out. I retire, I quit, I don't like this at all! When I woke up the inside of my tent was covered with red paint (or whatever it is) and I could read again and again the same words, in the same order, spread all around my tent "You're next Perry"

Nope, nope, nope, nope, I'm resigning and going back home. I might find a good spot near my village where I'll be able to have a farm. I've instructed the guys that the attack will happen tonight. I'll use the cover of the night to get away and maybe they'll think I was killed in the fights. That way I'll be free to move as I wish. We'll see how that goes.

* * *

Fire… There was fire everywhere. I ran and ran and just kept running. The white fang was attacking us and we didn't have any hunter or even any soldiers in the area. They will be able to do everything that they want. They came out of the forest at dusk and the shooting began quickly after. They had already killed a few civilians and they didn't look like they wanted to hold back. I hid myself behind a dumpster against an intact building, while some people got their guns or words or whatever and tried to push back the attackers. But they outnumbered them so much that I don't know how long they'll be able to hold them.

In fact… I can't hear much gun fire right now… And I can hear a lot of footsteps… Oh no, if they find me… I began to cry, fear engulfing my mind and whatever I do, I don't seem to be able to hold it back, And then they stopped… Oh god, they must have heard me.

"Shit, it's the white coat! Kill it! "

Wait… What? I peak out of my hiding spot and looked and I was dumbstruck. Five White fangs soldiers were trying to hit a woman in a white coat with their blades, but every time that they seemed to hit her, she just… Vanished and appeared somewhere else. They tried for a few minutes, different tactics were used and sometime she transformed into a fire, earth, ice or a gust of wind, leaving doubles as she slowly but surely took all them down.

In fact… I think she was playing with them.

"Why, hello Kitty cat, it's been a while"

The woman froze. She looked back down the road and I turned my head, he was behind me, a few meters back. The man was wearing the White Fang uniform, but his mask was different. It looked like the mask of a Deathstalker. He wielded a mace that seemed to be also a flamethrower and he was laughing heavily.

"Done running? I wonder how much Adam will reward me when I get you back home, with a cute little collar around your neck."

The woman didn't say anything but she tensed up and made her knuckles crack as she slowly walked toward him. I could see fury in her eyes. She was angry, mad and probably seeking revenge. But when she saw me, she stopped and looked at me a few moments, before slowly stroked my hair.

"You have beautiful blond hair you know? I knew a wonderful woman with beautiful blond hair, but I wasn't able to protect her… But I'll make sure that you will be unarmed. Okay? Stay here, I'll be right back"

And as I blinked, still in shock of the beauty of the woman, she wasn't even there anymore. She had dashed toward the White Fang's grunt, her blade glowing in the fiery light. But deep down, I knew that she would protect me. But as she ran towards the man, I could only hear laugh and taunt her and I knew that I shouldn't look, because it was about to get dirty.

"What not running away? Well that's fucking new. So come on Pussy cat, it'll be so much fun to hear you scream!"

And in the end… He was the one screaming… And I was right. It really shouldn't have looked.

* * *

 **Blake has always been the one with secret, the one to be closed, to not open to her friends, so... How about she wasn't the one to tell her story, but it was told by someone else?**

 **Also, sorry not sorry for the Unarmed pun. It was to good to pass**


	4. Trailer 4 - Fury of the Dragon

Standing on the edge of a cliff, two figures were silent, looking in the distance or at a gravestone at their feet, enjoying this moment of silence. They both knew that they would talk about things that neither of them liked, but it was a tradition at this point. Whenever they met up, they talked about things that mattered, information that they needed to share and then… They talked about them. About the family that was, in the end, always what preoccupied the end of their meet up.

Deep down he knew that she cared even if she didn't want to show it. After all, she had a persona to keep acting like. The man rolled his eyes but still smiled. Deep down, she was still the same woman he's known all these years. It was pleasant to see that even if the world changes, if time passes, some things stay the same. He heard a sigh and he saw, from the corner of his vision, that she slowly turned her head towards him, daggers shooting from her eyes. She hated when he didn't talked about what she wanted and he just loved to make her mad.

"Come on, just tell me what I want and maybe I won't kick your ass" she said, clearly irritated by the other silhouettes attitude, who just laughed, before grabbing something in his coat and drinking from it.

"Ruby, you know, Summer's daughter, is gone to hunt down Cinder and here goons, Yang is getting all emo and… "He sighed before looking up at the moon. It was pointing its perfect side at the moment, hiding its shattered side from the view of anyone looking up. "Taiyang is being…

* * *

The crow landed on a branch in a tree, in the north of the Forever Fall forest, looking down at the clearing in front of it, it cawed loudly, making some of the people in the camp jump and look around. When they saw the crow the sighed and just went back to their work, some tending to weapons, other unpacking what hadn't been offloaded from the bullheads when they arrived yesterday. The crow began to fly through the camp, looking around, as if it was looking someone or something. It landed in front of the biggest tent and cawed once again, this time hearing a grunt and someone cursing. Whoever this was, it didn't like to be bothered. So of course the crow cawed once more. This time the man inside didn't bother to curse; he just exited his tent, grabbed a pistol and began to shoot the bird. The bird quickly flew away, avoiding the bullets while it fled to the shelter of the forest.

"Get back here Jett, we don't have all day."

"Come on Adam, why do we have to be in this place? We could be in Mistral, shooting at scared civilians, but no, we have to be here and train. Why don't you-"

The crow was now far away enough to be unable to hear what was said, but it had heard what it wanted. It landed back in one of the trees, this time however it cawed three times in rapid succession, followed by two long ones.

"Thanks Qrow… So he's here?" a hooded figure asked, slowly coming out of the shadows of the canopy.

The bird simply flew down, disappeared behind a tree and didn't reappear, a man in grey, black and red clothes with black and grey haired appeared in it's place, simply walking with his hands in his pockets. The man took out his flask and took a few sips, before putting it back in his jacket.

"Yeah" Qrow answered, looking back at the camp, sighing. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean… I could help you if you want. I mean… I take the hundred to the left and you take the hundred to the right, we could be done in a few minutes."

"I appreciate it Qrow, but I can't. I wasn't there to protect them another time and I can't deal with it with you. I know you care about them, but they're my daughters. And he's going to pay for what he did to her." the blond brawler said, blue eyes staring at the camp, anger filled in them.

"As you want Tai… I'll stay nearby just in case. Deal?"

"Sure"

With that, Taiyang slowly walked toward the camp,Qrow sighed and rested itself on a tree, arms crossed and worry filling his eyes. This was going to get messy and he knew it.

* * *

"Well… Tai is being… Tai actually." The male silhouette sighed, looking down at the grave at their feet.

"You mean… reckless, doing absurd stuff but still doing what feels right to him?" the woman said, laughing softly, her eyes locked on the moon, thinking about past times when she was still a student, when she still had her friends.

"Yeah, that's about it. You remember the fire in Forever Fall?"

"Yeah, why?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You don't mean…"

"Yep."

* * *

Taiyang was a blur in the camp, his machinegun gauntlet roaring frequently while the other one, the flamethrower gauntlet, kept burning the camp and its occupants. He took a second to reload his left gauntlet and he was back in the fray, a few dozen bodies on the ground, knocked out or worse. Nobody was left standing around him, but he still wasn't satisfied, he still hadn't killed the one he was after. The one he wanted to take care, the one for who he went all this way, leaving his older daughter alone at their house. He still had to get him and he could go back to his daughter and she wouldn't have to worry about the man killing her friend or even coming back to get her.

"Well well, what do we have here? A lone human? Well, this is going to be so much fun."

Taiyang's head snapped and looked at the man in front of him. He looked young, not much past his teenage years, probably twenty or twenty one. Armed with a simple stick, he was grinning and laughing, getting in position to fight, before someone came in between the two fighters. The man dressed in a black coat and clothes, red hairs and a Grimm mask was looking at Taiyang, a smile creeping on his lips.

"Jett, stay down. I'll take care of this."

"But Adam!"

"Don't. Talk. Back. To. Me. I've given you an order and you'll respect it. Clear?" the voice of Adam was filled with anger and hatred, while he shot an evil look at the young man behind him.

"Yes sir."

"SHUT UP! Right now, for what you did, you answer to me!"

Taiyang's eyes were wide, rage filling every fibers of his body, as he looked at the man that destroyed his daughter's life. He roared as he began to shoot with his machinegun, but the black swordsman quickly blocked most of them, evading the rest that he couldn't block. He was smiling and they soon were locked in an exchange of blows. The roars of the machinegun were regular, but same as the sound of Adam's gun, while his sword never managed hit the huntsman direcly, always being blocked by the guards that extended all the way to the elbows, also used as blades to counter each of Adam's hits.

* * *

The woman sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Even after all these years, he hadn't changed… Or maybe he had. She remembered when he had shut down after she was gone and after Summer died. She was… proud? Proud ofTaiyang? For what? She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that, deep down, she felt happy for him.

* * *

Blood was dripping from both fighters, Adam smiling devilishly while Taiyang was still burning with anger, not feeling any pain, but the sane part of his brain knew that in a few minutes, max half an hour, it would hurt like a bitch.

Away from the fight, Jett was getting restless. It was going on for too long and he knew that it took time for Adam to charge his semblance when he was ready to unleash it. Maybe, if he could just buy him time, he could end this quickly. So he began slowly to walk in a direction that he knew Adam wouldn't see him, but Taiyang would. He took position while they were once again in a deadlock, the huntsman yelling at Adam who did not even answer.

"Is this all you got? Come on, tap into everything you have! I'm just playing with you! I don't care what causes you're fighting for, pull out your big guns and use them, because after all this time doing nothing, mourning for the deaths of those I love, I swear to god that I'll make you pay for what you did to the ones that are still alive!"

Jett stopped for a second, before shaking off the feeling of horror that was creeping into him. He felt like if he tried to shoot down the huntsman he would pay it harshly. But he had to. If he didn't he doubted that Adam would be able to pull it off. So he charged up his staff, lighting and fire coming out of each end and he slowly began to twirl it around. He was going to unleash the fury of the lightning and the power of the fire, he was going to-

He made a soft sound of surprise as blood came rushing into his lungs, his weapon fell to the ground, fire and lightning fading from his staff. He slowly looked down and his eyes widen in surprise and fear when he saw a white and red blade was through his torso, blood pooling at his feet as he was slowly being raised from the ground. He slowly looked around, unable to speak or make any sound, and he looked at the man that was looking at him, almost looking… Sad?

"I'm sorry kiddo, but this wasn't your fight. You shouldn't have gotten involved… You made a big mistake."

The man just make a jerking motion with his scythe, making Jett fall to the ground, blood spewing from his body at an alarming rate while he was quickly losing consciousness, his eyes landed on Adam and the human, still fighting, none having seen the events that had just happened right next to them. He felt sadness, then despair and, finally, nothing.

* * *

"Wait, you did what? Qrow…" she was without words. Yes, she had done awful things, but this was… This wasn't Qrow. It wasn't his kind of things to do.

"Hey come on sis, I couldn't leave him blindside Tai and risk losing someone else from my family."

"But still, that's-"

"Listen up sis." His eyes were filled with anger, but she was also able to see pain and regrets mixed in his facial expressions. "I don't like what I did, but it had to be done. Do you know how it feels to see the one you love die? After 'losing' your sister that has been with you all your life before? And then having to take care of two children because their fathers can't do anything? Do you know how it feels to see those girls keep living and then almost dying if you weren't there to save them… Well okay, maybe you know that last part. But do you know how it feels to see the people you care the most about in the world get broken in million pieces? No you don't so stop judging me. I did what I had to do, because I will NOT let anyone else die or disappear if I can prevent it."

Raven stayed silent, looking at the ground. She crouched and slowly removed some dirt from the gravestone and she looked at the emblem, a rose scattering in the wind, she looked at the name and slowly ran her fingers on it and the epitaph, sighing softly. "Alright… I'm sorry Qrow. Keep going please."

* * *

Adam was panting and so was Taiyang. They both had lost a lot of blood and they knew that they had to end it fast. So Adam got in position, readying his semblance. He waited, and waited, and waited… And… Waited… but nothing came. He looked at Taiyang and he was surprised to see him with his eyes closed, breathing slowly. And after a second, he opened his eyes, anger completely gone from them, entirely replaced with determination.

"Do you know what Taiyang Xiao Long means? No, well let me show you."

Slowly the flames around them seemed to get bigger, stronger, hotter. Adam's gaze landed on the huntsman and he knew he had to end this now. He dashed forward, but the flames entirely engulfed Taiyang, his blue eyes shining through the crimson flames.

"Let me show you, just how much flames and anger the Elder Sun Dragon can have!" he roared, the flames forming a majestic dragon around his body. Every word he said, the mouth of the dragon moved. Every step he took the legs of the dragon moved. He wasn't Taiyang anymore, he wasn't fighting anymore. He had won the instant the flames had gotten under his control. The dragon roared loudly and flames engulfed the entire area, fire spreading faster than it should normally have. And Adam never screamed. He never fled. He was in shock, but he was also happy. He would die a martyr for his cause. That was important in the end. The white fang must live on.

* * *

Raven finally understood what she felt earlier in Qrow's story. She was proud of Tai, because after all that happened he didn't shut down. He got up and protected his house. In the end, he had grown up, just like his daughters had. She smiled and nodded softly as she stood up, still looking at Summer's grave.

"Thank you Summer. For taking care of Yang when I couldn't. I'm sorry that I could not be there for Ruby's birth, your marriage or your funerals… But I know that you were never mad at me. That you knew that I disappeared for a good reason." She wiped a tear that was slowly running down her cheek and smiled at Qrow, before softly punching his shoulder.

She didn't say anything more, only grabbing her sword and opening a portal and stepping through it. Qrow stood alone for a moment before taking the final sip in his flask. He sighed and looked at the grave and he smiled softly.

"I miss you Summer. In fact, we all do. I hope we're making you proud up there. Don't worry about your girls. They aren't alone. They have friend that care for her. Even if Yang doesn't believe it, I know that her team always think about her."

He slowly walked up to the cliff and looked back to the grave, before jumping down. He never hit the ground, he flew a long time, but he thought about the same thing over and over again. 'It was good to talk Summer. I'll make sure to come back soon with good news'

* * *

 **I wanted to make something about Qrow and Taiyang, but didn't know what to do for them in seperate stories so... Here you go, two for one! Also, a lot of the Taiyang scenes were inspired by the fan made song "Answer to me" by The Gypsy Caravan. Go listen to it on Soundcloud, I actually really love this song**


	5. Trailer 5 - Sweet Silence

Without any sound the shadowy figure walked through the empty streets of Vale, looking at the abandoned buildings since that fateful day. A big part of Vale had been abandoned, people settling either in further part of the city or on the island of Patch. Some even fled to Vacuo, Mistral having shut down it frontiers and Atlas… Atlas wasn't an option, it had declared war on the citizens of Vale after all. Even if they said that they were hacked, a lot of Vale citizens didn't trust them at all. It was too shady, but also too convenient. So the world was in disarray, kingdoms didn't trust each other and Grimm numbers were increasing steadily in numbers for the past few months. Hunters and militaries were doing what they could and even criminals were helping people. At least… This helped somewhat to ease some problems.

But this didn't matter to the figure, who just walked to a dark alleyway, hiding herself from a police patrol. They had gotten more power in the past weeks, now supported by soldiers and the right to arrest on sight past the curfew as well as having the right to shoot if they feared that it may get dirty. So the shadow waited, not making any sound before keeping moving forward. She wanted to stop by the school before it was too late, but she still had somewhere to go right before that. Silently she made her way to the downed ship that sat on a few ruined buildings. The silhouette looked at it and it shivered, small arms surrounding her body as she tried to hold back bad emotions. She didn't want to attract Grimm that could roam the area.

She walked slowly through the wreckage, going back to where she had last stop her search. She spent a long moment there, grunting and panting in her efforts, but overall she didn't make much sound. But at some point she saw something and began throwing rubbles in all directions, trying to make it to the object she saw before her. When she saw it she made a gasp and hugged the object against her body, slowly running her fingers on the cold metal of the cane, his weapon for so long. She cried silently and kept the weapon against her for a few minutes, before she stood up and ran silently when she heard multiple people coming in her direction. She didn't want to get caught, after all, she was still wanted for what she had done.

She ran and ran for a long time, trying to get rid of everything in her mind. She didn't want to attract the Grimm. Not where she was going. She slowed down as she got closer and closer to the school grounds, infested by Grimm since that day. She hid the cane and took a deep breath, baking sure her coat was closed and that it didn't hung loose at some places. She opened her eyes and slowly made her way in the devil's lair that was Beacon. She walked through destroyed plazas, destroyed buildings and destroyed statues, but this wasn't where she wanted to be. She had heard Adam recount his fight with two students, one being someone with whom he was once close, while the other was the one why she was here. She had things to do, things to finish. And she didn't want it to be unfair

So she snooped around, trying to remember where the cafeteria was. She had been here once, but at this point, with all that happened, it seemed like it had been a lifetime ago. She smiled when she finally saw what she was looking for and she quickly entered the building, making sure beforehand that there wasn't any Grimm inside. She looked around and her stomach tensed when she saw the blood on the floor. After all this time, she could still see it splattered in a pool and she could almost see the trail that it made as it went from the pool to one of the exits. But she wasn't here for the blood, she was here for a specific object and this time it wouldn't be as hard as when she searched the downed ship. In fact, the yellow gauntlet was almost jumping at her in the rubbles. She walked to it and slowly, meticulously, she removed the rubble from over it, freeing it from its grave. She held the weapon against her legs, running her fingers across the damaged paint covered metal piece as she remembered the girl who had fought with them. She felt sorry for her, for what she had to go through. She sighed softly, before getting up and putting the weapon at her belt, getting the cane from the ground next to her and heading out.

She walked an hour, back to where she was living. She was in hiding and someone had accepted to help her, to let her live somewhere, at the condition she did what he asked her to do. So she entered an alley and entered by the back of the building, music already blasting her ears. But she didn't care, at least she could rest here. She passed a pair of men, wearing black suits with red ties and she sat down at a stool at the bar. The barman walked to her and she looked up at him, pink and brown eyes meeting up with his grey eyes. She slowly took out a piece of paper with the information he asked of her and she gave it to him, which he quickly grabbed and smiled when he read it.

"So, you are sure? He was killed in the fire in Forever Fall?"

She nodded and took out a picture, which almost made him puke the instant he saw it. The body was completely burnt, but the bones where shattered and the skull had been broken in a ton of pieces. But the mask and his weapon were right next to the body, as well as a pair of horns, that had been removed from the skull.

"Hmm… Thanks. I guess? Found anything else?"

Her eyes sparkled and she nodded, showing him the cane that she found in the wreckage, before she hugged it fondly, her eyes filling with sadness as quickly as she had smiled. She sighed and put the cane on the bar, before pointing at a set of glass and mimed the act of drinking. He rolled his eyes and went back to make her a raspberry cocktail, the sweetest thing he had tasted in his life, but he didn't say anything about her taste. After all, if she liked sweet stuff like this, it was her right. A bad choice, but still, it was her choice. He gave her her drink and he looked at the cane a moment. He moved to try and take it to observe it, but he stopped when he saw the glare that she shot him. He sighed and retracted his hand.

"It's his weapon isn't it?"

She nodded, her eyes tearing up slightly while she lost her smile, but then she gasped and stood up (not that it made much of difference anyway) and she fiddled with the weapon that she had attached to her belt and she showed it to the barman, who recoiled in horror seeing once again that weapon of mass destruction that wrecked his bar once. But then he looked at it closely and he took it from her hands. In the end, it wasn't something as dangerous as he first thought. It was sleek, well made and far from a brute weapon.

She grabbed the weapon back and she motioned the weapon, then pointed at herself and followed with acting legs with two fingers. The barman frowned and he nodded slowly, trying to figure out what she meant.

"You… Want to go to her is that it? Why?" he asked, surprised. Why would she ever want to

She nodded and then she thought for a moment. He raised an eyebrow when she didn't answer but then she snapped her fingers and just took a boxing stance that anybody would recognise. She… wanted to fight Blondie? Heh, sure. Why not. But then she kept looking at him and she made a small pout. He sighed as he began to understand what she was trying to express.

"You don't know how to, don't you?"

She nodded smiling, her eyes changing color erratically as her mind was filling with ideas, projects, but also plans. She wanted to fight the blonde brawler and after that, maybe convince her to come take her revenge on those who made them both suffer. But she had a feeling that it wouldn't be as easy as she made it seem in her mind. But she didn't care. For now, she wanted to find the blond girl and make her an ally no matter what, she looked at Junior, expecting him to give her answer, but he only sighed.

"I know she's from Patch. I'll give you some money to buy yourself the travel there, but I won't be able to do much more. Once you're out there, I won't help you and you must not tell anyone about the fact that we were in contact, understood?"

She rolled her eyes. As if she was going to speak. But she understood what he meant so she nodded and smiled, before taking the gauntlet and the cane and skipping away to her room, making a mental list of all that she would need to bring with her. She felt like it would be pretty interesting once she git to Patch.

"Good luck Neo. For what I've heard, it's not the same girl that came here a year ago… You might be really disappointed."


	6. Leaving the House

Weiss had opened her eyes immediately as she heard the sound of the alarm on her scroll, instantaneously waking up from her short night sleep. She woke up early, finished packing some clothes and some other objects and made sure that Myrtenaster was well oiled and was filled with dust. Even if she was only going to Vacuo for some economic problems and to do some negotiations with a possible dust competitor to the SDC, she had some things she also wanted to take care. She sighed, packed the last of her stuff and left the mansion with Penny and her five men escort in tow, heading to the airfield.

"Captain Crimson, we will take my jet, not the company's. I want to fly undetected, in case of any White Fang attack."

The captain, wearing the regular Atlas uniform with dark markings nodded and took out his scroll, sending a message to someone, probably to make sure that the changes will be known at H.Q. Weiss entered first, went to one of the back seat and sat down, closed her eyes and quickly went back to sleep. She wasn't fond of flying, especially the take off part, so if she was able to skip that entire part of the flight, she would take the opportunity anytime. She however made sure to keep a folded piece of paper, a picture, in her hands, not wanting to let it go, no matter the cost. She quickly dozed off, rapidly heading in the world of dreams. When she finally woke up, an hour and a half later, she took a moment to observe what was happening around her.  
Three soldiers, Carmen, the only women in her escort, Fawn, a large man that was as tall as Yatsuhashi on heels and Cerul, a man that was almost as small as Weiss, were playing a card game, another one, Coral, a tanned and laid back man, was cleaning their weapons and finally Crimson, the commanding officer, was talking on his scroll with someone, probably someone from Vacuo, maybe a police officer or even one of the investor that they were going to meet. In either case, it didn't really matter to Weiss. What mattered however, was the woman that was sitting at the front, near the pilot cabin. So Weiss stretched her arms slowly, yawned away the last bit of sleep and stood up. She made sure that she still had her picture in her hand, straightened her dress and walked slowly to the robotic girl at the font of the plane and sat down in front of her, still surprised, but at the same time happy to see her. They looked at each other, before Penny began to laugh softly, a smile creeping on her face.

"You must have a lot of question, haven't you Weiss my friend?" She said, giggling at the little nod Weiss gave her, unsure on how to answer. "When my body sustained fatal damage, my core went in survival mode, storing my aura in a secured container in my body, as well as uploading my memories and personality in the atlesian network, thus ensuring, technically, my survival if someone managed to get back my core. Which they did."

Weiss looked at Penny a long moment, lost in thought, unsure of the way that she should answer. She thought for a moment, thinking of more questions that she could come up with.

"Who... who found you? It must not have been an easy thing to do. The school and a lot of the areas surrounding the coliseum and the fair grounds was filled with grimms when I left." The heiress asked, impressed that someone actually managed to get in Vale, extract valuable equipment like Penny's... remain... and managed to get back to Atlas.

"It was Mister Onyx's squad. They are a group of specialists that are experts in quick and efficient long range missions in enemy territory. They are interesting persons, even if they don't talk much." The android answered, an innocent smile stuck in her face all the while she answered.

Weiss slowly nodded. So, she was retrieved by team OCHR (ochre), they were renowned hunters, or rather, specialists that were frequently send around the world, where Grimm activity was at its highest and most dangerous. In fact, it almost reminded the fame that team CFVY had at Beacon, except almost at an international level. She smiled and sighed, letting go of the breath she had kept during Penny's explanations. She smiled softly, but soon her smile disappear when the most important question that she had in mind was the next in her list of things she wanted to ask. She took a deep breath and looked at the ground, uncertain if she really wanted an answer.

"Penny" the heiress asked, low enough that any normal human would not have been able to hear it "What do you... remember before the moment of your... reactivation"

For a moment Penny looked surprised, but quickly sadness took over and, in an instant, Weiss felt guilty and almost asked Penny to forget what she said, but the android sighed as she looked out the window, not wanting to meet Weiss's eyes.

"I don't remember much. I know that I was friend with you, that I stopped a dust robbery that targeted the SDC at the Vale docks, and other details like those, but any memory that is not directly connected to Atlas or the military is a blur."

Tears were flowing on Weiss's face when Penny finally looked back at her and, in a fraction of a second, at a speed that would have made Ruby jealous, Weiss was besides Penny and hugging her, barely holding back her sobs, softly repeating "it's not fair". They stayed like this for a few moments, before Weiss went back to her seat. She smiled slightly and giggled as she realized just how out of character what she jut did was. She was never one to indulge in hugs or other demonstration of affection in public. It had slowly changed with her team, hugs here and there, telling each other secrets and things that worried each other from time to time, without making plans to use it against you later to gain political power over you, compliments far more frequently than she was used, but only in the confine of their dorm room. Maybe, just like her freedom, when you taste a little bit of friendship and human contact in your life, you just want more and more, even if you don't realize it at first.

A glimmer of mischief glowed in Weiss's eyes and she slowly crossed her arms, while Penny simply looked at her, unable to understand how she felt.

The heiress smiled and kept her eyes fixated on the robotic girl, as she began to speak. "Penny, could you please get in the SDC database and get me the report of the attack on the Vacuo outpost number 114 two weeks ago?"

Penny nodded, smiling, before frowning. She seemed to concentrate an instant, deep in thoughts. She closed her eyes as she began to fidget on her seat, terror spreading on her face. "Weiss, there's something wrong! I can't connect to the SDC network! I must have been -" she stopped when she saw the joy and excitement in Weiss's expression, a huge smile on her face.

"Can you turn off individual components of your system?"

"Weiss, I don't unders-"

"Can you or can you not manually disable your GPS chip?"

"I... I can, but Weiss, you have to tell me why!" Penny said, sounding more and mor alarmed, but also frightened by what was happening

Weiss laughed and clapped as tears began to flow freely once more from her eyes, happiness radiating from her as she revealed an heavily modified pistol hidden in the long sleeves of her traveling coat. Weiss was so happy that the contraption actually worked on Penny. After the fall of Beacon, she had asked SDC and Atlas scientists to develop something to disconnect the knights and paladins from the Atlas network, thus nullifying any hacking. However she needed Penny to disconnect her GPS chip to let her come in the next part of her plan.

"I promise, I'll explain everything, to you in an instant, but I need you to disable your GPS and grab something to hold you down in exactly... now"

Weiss quickly took five bags and threw one at each soldier, who, surprised grabbed them. Crimson however just sighed and put the bag on his back, waiting for what he knew was coming. And, as he guessed, Weiss nodded to him and he nodded back. It really was happening now

"I'm sorry Fawn, Carmen, Cerul, Coral and you, Captain Crimson, but... I have things I have to do and I can't have anybody prevent me from doing so." Said the heiress, looking both sad and happy, as she pressed a button on her scroll. And at the instant they saw her take out her scroll and say her little speech, they all knew what was going to happen. They put on the parachutes and braced for the moment that the doors would -

They didn't have the time to realize it had happen, they were almost instantly pulled our of the jet by the depressurization, with various other objects, while Weiss and Penny held tight to their own seats, not wanting to be flung out of the jet.

Okay, maybe it wasn't the best plan ever.


	7. Explanation and Panic Please don't

Floating in the sky had always been a weird but somewhat pleasant feeling for Crimson. Well, it was, when he wasn't forcefully thrown out of a plane at over 6 km in the air, without any warning. Weiss had warned him that she didn't want to go to Vacuo, but he never thought that she would do all this, just to be able to do what she wanted.

"Hey captain?" said a neutral, somewhat bored voice

"Yes Coral?"

"What now?"

Crimson looked around at his subordinates and sighed. On his right, Fawn looked scared as he kept shooting glances at his parachute, his massive stature making him doubtful of the ability of his parachute to hold him correctly in the air. On his left, Carmen was as red as her name implied, anger and hatred oozing from her whole being, her hands shaking in fists as she desperately wanted to punch something, or someone, in the face. Behind him, Coral was floating slowly, looking as bored as always and was looking at him with complete disinterest. Finally, Cerul was a bit lower under all of them, hidden from their view by his parachute. Garnet Crimson just shrugged, before spotting something a few kilometers away on the ground.

"Well, there seems to be something that way, and it looks like an SDC mine. We should probably try to get there and see how things turn out after we brief HQ of what just happened."

The rest of the descent was silent as the soldiers just kept thinking about what just happen to them, while the captain, however, just kept his gaze on the jet, quickly getting smaller in the sky.

"Well, miss Schnee" the officer thought "I hope you'll achieve what you want to do, after all, we all deserve to do as we wish at least once in our life."

* * *

In the plane, the situation was completely different however. Penny was speechless, still trying to process what had just happened, Weiss was conflicted, happy that her plan had succeeded, but also sad that she had to go to such drastic measures to ensure that no one could interfere with her desires, especially not her father and his goons. But something else, or rather someone else was showing its excitement. A feminine voice was shouting from the speakers in an endless stream of hyperactivity that would have made Nora and Ruby look like sleeping sloths on morphine.

"Oh my god, that was awesome! You sounded like an action movie star going 'Hasta la vista, baby' on them or something like-"

Suddenly the only thing that could be heard through the speakers was muffled sound of a voice as well as some hits being given, before a male voice, smooth and calm, began to speak.

"That was impressive of you Schnee, but are you sure you made the right choice? Because that just made you a fug- OK NEON, STOP LICKING MY HAND!"

"Never!" Yelled the feminine voice back, before the sound of a fight was heard all around the plane. Weiss sighed but smiled at the way the two members of team FNKI that had accepted to help her were acting, reminding her of herself and Ruby in their first times together. However, her smile didn't last long, she quickly regained her serious expression as she muted the speakers of the plane with her scroll. She took out her modified pistol and left it on the table next to her, before unfolding the picture she had. She took a moment to look at it, smiling softly and slowly placed it on her knees, taking the pistol back at the same time with her free hand and showing it to Penny.

"This pistol is designed to shoot a jammer in exoskeletons, which blocks any signal coming in and out of the robots, so they are forcefully disconnected from the SDC or Atlasian network, thus nullifying any sort of hacking of the main grid. Reminds you of anyone not able to connect to the network?" said the heiress as she smiled slightly but quickly frowned as she saw the look of confusion on the android. Weiss sighed and explained everything that she knew of what happened at beacon. How Torchwick managed to take control of one of their battleship and how a virus was broadcasted to every Knights and paladins, as well as everything else she knew.

Penny's face only shown absolute terror. She knew of the events that happened in Vale, but nobody had told her just how bad everything was. But this wasn't all… this didn't explain what Weiss was doing or why she had to be disconnected from the network or why she had Flynt and Neon to fly her jet or…

"Weiss… what are you doing? Or rather, why are you doing all of this?"

Weiss looked down at her picture and she fumbled with it as she slowly showed it to Penny. Why? Why, was a question she kept asking herself everyday for the past months. She had a million reasons to do so. She wanted to see her friends, she wanted to flee from an hostile home, from her father, from Whitley, she wanted to be free, to be herself. She gulped slowly and handed the picture to Penny with fear, not wanting to lose one of her best memory.

"Because I want, or rather, I need to be happy. I wasn't allowed to be who I want, I was not allowed to make my own choices, I wasn't allowed to live, so… so now I WANT to live with the only people that made me feel alive and happy. Penny, do you recognise any of the other girls on the picture?"

Penny knew that she was supposed to recognise them, to know who they were. She also knew, deep down, that she was closer to the girl in red, than any other person in the world. But she couldn't do it, she couldn't even say the name of any of the girls, or any other information she may had. She looked quite sad as she gave back the picture to Weiss, slowly shaking her head from left to right. Weiss looked just as sad as the android, but she smiled softly as she took a deep breath.

"Well Penny, since we have a few hours until we get to patch, let me tell you the story of team RWBY, the greatest team of Beacon, ever. Of all time"

* * *

A black bird cawed in the forest as the figure ran as fast as it could. Someone in town had told him that a woman had asked about… _her._ And nobody that wanted to find her, especially someone who didn't know her well enough to know where she lived, was not someone he could let near her.

Taiyang punched through a fallen tree, breaking it away from is path, making animals run away from him, but he didn't care. He jumped over a rock, taking his scroll out to try and het to talk to Yang as soon as possible, to warn her. He called and called, but she never answered, which only made the man worry more than ever.

He swore under his breath as he finally got to the clearing surrounding their house and he activated his two gauntlets, engaging his submachine gun and flamethrower, as he slowly moved towards the house. He quickly saw Yang through a window, yelling at someone he couldn't see from his position, tears in her eyes. He began to run once more when he could see red eyes and flickering waves of energy in her hair.

"Yang no!" he yelled as he got to the front door, a blast of energy from his daughter, shattering glass, windows and other breakable objects inside the house.

He blasted the door open with a left punch, finally able to see inside the house. He saw Yang fall to her knees, crying from sadness and rage at the mysterious individual. Taiyang dashed to his daughter, surrounding her with his arms, softly rubbing her back as he looked at the intruder, a small girl wearing pink, white and brown clothes, her hairs pink and brown. His gaze stopped on her fully white eyes, filled with fear and sadness. When she saw that he was staring at her, she lowered her gaze and slowly presented a familiar gauntlet to him, one that he thought he would never see again. He took it with his free hand, sighing softly as his eyes travelled from the woman in front of him to his daughter.

"Thank you, who ever you are, but I think you should go."

Nodding slowly, Neo backed away, heading out of the house while making sure not to step in shattered glass. She sat down on the porch, looking up at the sky. She only wanted to make someone happy, she only wanted to give something back to the strongest woman she knew, and after that, she only wanted to go with her to find Cinder and make her pay… as well as maybe kill the red pest that caused the death of her Roman. She wanted revenge, was it too much to ask? She got up as a white jet passed above her head, probably heading to the airport. She sighed and scribbled an address on a piece of paper that she left on the porch, under a rock, before heading back to the hotel she was staying for a few days. Maybe after she had calmed down, Yang or her father would like to know what this was all about.

* * *

After almost two hours of listening to Weiss retelling her story, Penny kept silent, thinking about everything that she just learned. Making her forget things didn't bother her. However, making her forget her friends, her relationships, was something she didn't accept. She wanted, no, she HAD to have a talk with her father, as well as General Ironwood. She stood up and began to walk back and forth in the plane, lost in her thoughts. Weiss just looked at her, worried about the robotic girl.

"Hum… Weiss?"

Weiss and Penny both turned around and looked at Neon, fidgeting in place, looking uncomfortable and stressful. Weiss sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Yes Neon?"

"Do you happen to know how to… how to land a plane?"

"Of course I d… Wait…" Weiss slowly looked at Penny, before looking outside, seeing the ground getting closer and closer by the second. "WHAT?" Penny and Weiss yelled at the same time, horror in their faces as the stared at the Faunus.

"So… Is that a no?"


	8. Crash Landing and Desert Meeting

"What do you mean you mean you don't know how to land a plane? I thought you said you knew how to fly!"

To say that Weiss was angry would be putting it lightly. Red from anger, she was in the cockpit with Neon, Penny and Flynt, trying to understand what they had to do. Well… Penny and Flynt were, Weiss was trying to strangle Neon in her fury. Before she was even asked to go to Vacuo, she was already planning an escape and she had asked for the help of team FNKI, which they happily agreed for various reasons, but this wasn't the point. When Neon had told her that she knew how to fly a plane, Weiss was ecstatic, she had finally had found her escape route. But now, she regretted every choice she ever made in life, especially those involving Neon.

"Well, it's true!" Neon said, trying to free herself from Weiss' grip, managing to breath for a second before the heiress found her neck once more with her hands.

"No it's not, you stupid cat, you just told me you can't land the fucking plane!"

Penny chose that instant to clear her throat, looking at Weiss with a judging look. "Weiss, please don't kill your friends." she said, before looking back at the commands, alerts and other measures that the instruments on the dashboard were giving them. She sat down at Neon's seat, before grabbing the headset and opened the radio to contact the Patch airfield.

"Patch airfield, this is private jet WRABB4E demanding authorization to do an emergency landing. Our pilot has passed out and nobody knows how to land the plane, we will need help to do so."

Weiss just grabbed the headrest of both seats as she looked at the airstrip that was quickly getting bigger and bigger as they got closer, Penny and Flynt following the instructions that the control tower was giving them, while Neon was encased in an ice block, only her face free from the ice, simply looking defeated. Everybody (except Neon) jumped when the alarms began blaring their warnings. "Pull up. Reduce speed. Pull up. Reduce speed. Pull up"

"This" said Flynt, looking as calm as he could in this situation "is going to hurt. Really, really hurt."

* * *

"Are you sure?"

"Yes ma'am, she looked exactly like her."

"Thanks. Alright, you can go back to see your parents."

The rabbit Faunus sighed as the blond kid quickly ran back to his family, somewhere in the refugee camp that they had built while they repaired the damage done by the white fang attack in the village. As if bandits and Grimms wasn't enough, they had now a white fang cell operating in the kingdom. But most importantly, _she_ was apparently here. Velvet Scarlatina, member of team CFVY and the one that was made in charge of the security surrounding the camp by her leader Coco, sat down in her tent and rubbed her temples wondering about what they should be doing. Everyone that was part of the final battle at Beacon knew that Blake had fled as soon as she could. However, no one knew where she had disappeared. But now, as she was looking at the few things left behind in the white fang camp, especially by their leader, someone named Perry, she was learning important information. First, this was a small force and the main force was in Mistral, doing who knows what. They would have to try and warn Mistral as soon as possible. Secondly, she also learned that this wasn't the first time that Blake had attacked White Fang troops, that she must have followed them around Remnant since the beginning, hunting them down slowly. At least, Velvet thought, it didn't look like she killed anyone.

"So, Velvs, anything new?"

Velvet almost fell from her chair as Coco talked to her, not having heard her get to the tent. Damn sand, it prevents from hearing the sound of footsteps. She looked at her leader and girlfriend and blushed. Yes, it was hot, but…

"Do you really need to show so much skin?" said Velvet, just loudly enough for Coco to hear, which made Coco grinned, crossing her arms as she looked at the Faunus woman.

"What, don't like the view?"

Wearing rather short brown shorts, a white crop top showing her midriff, shoulders, arms, and oh too much skin for Velvet's brain, who was struggling to simply work, as it kept ogling at the woman's body. Her beret and sunglasses were still in place and even after a week she still looked perfect, she still looked amazing, like a model, she was still so sexy, so…

"Velvet" Coco asked, snapping her fingers in the bunny's face, a huge smile on her face. "Are you still there? You're drooling."

Blushing, Velvet hid her face in her hands, mumbling an apology as she tried to control the mental images that her brain was blasting her mind with, as she took deep breaths and slowly regained her calm. Clearing her throat, she looked up at Coco, who was still grinning at her.

"Well… they attacked the village, but the villagers held them back enough that help was able to come. A faunus woman with black hair, a white coat, thigh high boots, a chain-sickle-sword-pistol weapon and the ability to create doubles of herself. Reminds you of anyone?" She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart as it was blasting in her chest, her mind filling with worry as she looked at Coco, the diva had lost her smile and was deep in her thoughts

"You think it's Blake?"

"I asked the villagers and showed them various dark haired faunus woman pictures. All of them gave me the same answer, Blake is the one they saw. Coco… what should we do?"

The diva took out her scroll and sent a message to someone, her left foot tapping on the ground at the same time. She sat down next to Velvet, her arms crossed and her feet on the table. A few minutes later, Yatsuashi and Fox entered the tent, quickly heading to the seats in front of Velvet and Coco when they saw their leader's gaze.

"First of all, Yatsu, Fox, you both owe me 50 lien, Blake's a faunus. Secondly-"

"Wait" said velvet, surprise filled in her voice and face as she looked at Coco. " Did you really bet on the fact that Blake could be a faunus?"

"Oh yeah. We made a bunch of bets at Beacon. Hell, Nora made a betting pool on when Pyrrha and Jaune, Yang and Blake, as well as Weiss and Ruby would finally get together. Fun fact? There was also on option for a team RWBY wide relationship. Didn't get a lot of betting on it though, neither did all the other combinations, especially the Yang and Ruby one."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Velvet sighed as she motioned to Coco to keep going. Beacon really was a weird school sometime. Coco smiled, grabbed the money that the two men were giving her and kept going as if nothing happened.

"It's a tradition in Beacon, we even have some teachers and other staff members that bet. But let's get back onto our main topic. Blake has been spotted in the area, so we have a new objective. Find her and try to talk to her. We need to understand why she fled. We may not be friend with her, but she's a comrade and, to do what she did, she must have had a good reason."

Everybody nodded, and headed out to their tents. They had to go as soon as possible if they wanted to have a chance at this. If Blake got too far away, they wouldn't be able to find her. But she probably was still in the area, trying to find the remaining White Fang soldiers. Velvet entered her tent and zipped it back closed, as she began to undress to get in her fighting gear. But she quickly stopped when someone slowly unzipped the opening, revealing a grinning Coco, who entered, before zipping it back down once more.

"Hum… Coco, I want to change before we head out and…"

"Oh, I know Velvet, I know."

"Coco, no."

"Coco, yes" answered the diva, grinning as she pounced on the bunny girl, pushing her down on her sleeping bag.

* * *

"You really did an awful job you know?" said Neon, holding a pack of ice on her head with one hand, as she slowly rubbed her neck with her other hand.

After they had claimed that their pilot had passed out, they did the most logical thing that they could think and simply headbutted Neon's head against the wall… a few times, enough to knock her out. Weiss had done it with pleasure, before bracing herself for impact, as they finally hit the ground. The front wheel had hit the ground first, ripping it off completely before the back wheels even touched the ground. They skid a long distance on the tarmac, engines blasting in reverse, as they desperately tried to stop their crash BEFORE they hit anything, especially the airport. Which they managed, with barely a dozen of meters between the plane and the building. When they finally got out, they were helped by emergency personnel, but Weiss quickly headed inside to talk with the director of the airport, demanding that no information about the crash leaked out of the deserted airport. She didn't want her father to learn, somehow, where she was. When she guaranteed his silence, she went back to the plane, to be with Penny, Flynt and, begrudgingly, Neon. After that, they simply waited to see what would happen, waited for Neon to regain consciousness and for Weiss to tell them what would be their next objective.

And of course, first thing that Neon said when she woke up was that. Weiss really, really, really wanted to jump to her throat and strangle her, but Penny held her tight, sighing softly at the way they were both acting.

"I thought you knew how to fly!" yelled the heiress, her eyes fixed on Neon, trying to see if her death glare could, for once, kill someone.

"But it's true! I know how to fly a plane! I just don't know how to land!" answered the party girl, crossing her arms on her chest, sticking out her tongue to Weiss.

They all stayed silent for a moment before Weiss screamed in anger, using her glyphs to dash away from Penny and Flynt, pursuing the cat faunus that kept zipping away with her semblance, while the two other members of their group just sighed. Well, at least, nobody was seriously injured, that was the most important thing.

"Okay, Ice Princess, calm down, will you? You're really hurting my ears right now."

In an instant, everybody turned to the source of the voice, a man in his 40s, with black, white and grey clothes, black hair, red eyes and a red cape. Weiss stopped dead on her tracks and walked angrily to the man, starring at the man. When she got to him, she crossed her arm, eyes locked into his.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have family here, you're not the only one who can visit from time to time."

"Bring me to them!"

"Wow, you're even more stuck up than your sister… Guessed she trained you well."

"I won't repeat myself!"

Qrow just laughed as he turned around, heading to the airport's building, his hands in his pockets, Weiss right behind him. Looking at each other, Flynt, Neon and Penny just followed them, unsure of what had just happened. They walked slowly, Qrow leading them towards a counter in the back of the building, labelled "Delivery". Groaning, the heiress stormed in front of him, daggers shooting from her eyes as she looked up at the man.

"You said you were going to lead me to Yang and Ruby!"

"I didn't say anything. And anyway, I have something to take from a certain someone that had something made for her."

"And what is it that you are getting?"

Smiling, Qrow just ignored her. He spent a few minutes at the desk, speaking with the clerk and filling some papers, before coming back, a long white box with the Atlas logo on it, under his arm

"You'll see soon enough." Answered Qrow, as he passed her, heading outside of the airport, towards the town, the group of teens behind him, looking at each other with confusion in their eyes.


	9. Care and Love

Run and don't look back. It was the only thing she could do. She had been found and her pursuers wanted to catch her, and she couldn't let them. She had so much she still had to do, so that she could live with herself. She needed to hide, anywhere, she had to find somewhere to flee from her pursuers. After a few minutes of a crazy dash across sand dunes, she quickly made a left, heading directly to a large oasis with a dense canopy. She was an adept at hiding herself, she knew that they would probably never find her. Jumping up from tree to tree, branch to branch, before she stopped in one of the highest spot she could manage, standing still as one of her pursuer got in her field of view. Even through the dense roof of leaf, sun somehow managed to hit the golden barrels of the Gatling gun, making it shine, as a beacon. A beacon of death, thought Blake. Coco sighed slowly as the massive weapon got back in it's handbag form, her gaze landing directly on the faunus, sadness filling her eyes.

"Why are you running Blake?"

"How did you-"

"Velvet was easily scared in our first year."

"Go away Coco. And bring your team with you. I will fight you if I have to."

Sighing, the diva looked around and slowly backed away from the tree, nodding as she looked back at Blake. The faunus woman tensed at the way the diva acted, sensing that something was aloof. The instant she heard the blade soar through the air she jumped, Yatsuhashi's blade having destroyed the base of the tree. Dashing through the air, she tried to get as far as possible, aiming away from the diva and the mountain as she soared, but something collided with her, a blur of brown and fur tackled her to the ground, sobs being faintly heard against her chest.

Looking down, still dazed, Blake gulped loudly when she saw Velvet looking back at her, tears falling from her eyes, sadness but also anger, happiness and… something else, Blake couldn't put her finger on it, filled in her expression. Sighing the cat faunus rested her head back on the ground, groaning as she saw the grin on Coco's face. The stayed like this for a moment before Blake slowly smiled as she saw, for the first time in more than half a year, familiar faces.

"It's nice to see you." Said softly the cat faunus

"Same here." Answered the diva, her grin slowly transforming in a smile, as Velvet slowly regained her composure.

"I still hate you for chasing me"

"You shouldn't have fled, it was your fault" answered Yatsuhashi, sitting on their left, his eyes closed in a meditation stance

"God your logic is worst than Y-" the raven-haired woman said, before chocking at the end of her sentence, sadness filling her eyes as she was unable to keep talking, her eyes closing to fight back the tears that came every time that she thought of Yang, her mind always drifting back to _that_ day, the day she ruined _her_ life. She slowly patted the bunny girl's back, sighing as memory just waved over her.

Suddenly, a blur of brown and orange got to the clearing, Fox panting softly as he got back in a fighting stance, prompting the other hunter and huntresses to their feet. Smiling, Coco looked at Blake from the corner of her eyes, as she readied her weapon, a dozen of beowolves getting into the clearing, snarling, followed by two alphas, observing them with care as they kept their distance. Taking out her weapon, Blake slowly rubbed her finger on the yellow streak on Gambol Shroud, resolve filling her eyes.

"We'll talk about this later Blake, bet on that."

"What, the same way you made bet on who would end up fucking who?"

"Yeah." laughed Coco, a huge smile on her face "Just like that."

Smiling slightly, Blake dashed towards the first beowolf, feeling more at ease than she thought she would. Maybe she needed to speak to someone after all.

* * *

"Where are you taking us?"

"Gods you're loud"

"I will not repeat myself!"

"I know snow princess, I just hope you'll shut your damn mouth, but if you're anything like your sister, that'll never happen."

Sighing of exasperation and anger, Weiss' hands grabbed her rapier, knuckles white from the pressure she was exerting on them, holding her hilt with all her might. She slowly began to remove Myrtenaster from her sheath, dust already set on the red canister, her finger ready to infuse the blade, before Penny softly rested her hand on the heiress' shoulder, a scolding gaze set on her. Rolling her eyes Weiss tock deep breaths as she tried to calm herself, not noticing the red eyes looking at her. Qrow smiled as he looked over his shoulder, before sighing when he stopped in front of a florist, sadness filling his eyes. He entered slowly, under the questioning eyes of the four young adults. After a few minutes, he came out, still holding the box, but with a few white rose in his left hand.

"She probably won't be home, neither will Tai. But I know where they most likely will be. And, where I have to go." Qrow said gloomily, looking towards the forest.

They slowly followed him, Weiss having forgotten her rage towards the man the instant she saw his gaze. Whatever had happened, or was happening, it was something important and something difficult for the man. She just hoped that it wasn't something that would be heartbreaking.

* * *

"Dad" groaned the blond woman, rolling her eyes from her father's questioning. "I'm okay, I swear. Seeing her, plus Ember Celica just brought back harsh memories the other day. It's nothing now.

"I know, but you don't need to – "

"But I do!" screamed Yang, her hand reaching for the door of her room.

She quickly opened it, almost tearing it off its hinges, wearing unbuckled jeans, a black t-shirt and her father's old vest in her robotic hand, her eyes a deep crimson as she angrily closed the distance between her and her father, stopping only a few centimeters from him, her eyes locked in his.

"If I don't go, I could not live with myself, even if we aren't even blood related. I haven't spoken to her in more than a year. A year! Wow, such a fucking wonderful daughter I am!" She yelled, before hugging her father, tears running down her face, not wanting to let him go. "Dad… I've lost everybody. First my biological mom, then my real mom, then you for a while, uncle Qrow always keeps disappearing and now, Ruby and Weiss have left me. And… Blake, she… "

Slowly Taiyang rubbed his eldest daughter's back, hushing her softly as she kept crying in his arms, holding to his clothes with all her might, fearing that she would be again left alone. That if she let go of him, he would simply disappear. They stayed like this for a few minutes, before Yang finally calmed herself, moving away from her father, who simply smiled and kissed her forehead with care.

"It's okay firecracker, don't worry. I understand. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Yang, you're not in a perfect mental state right now and… I just…"

"I know. I was just mad at a lot of stuff. And well… you know… I'm not the best with my rage."

They slowly smiled at each other, before Taiyang simply coughed, pointing his finger at Yang's midsection, which caused her to look down, before shrieking in horror, quickly zipping and buttoning her pants, her face as crimson as her eyes a few moments prior. Erupting in laughter, Taiyang pressed himself against the wall, tears falling from his eyes, not even budging at his daughter's jab on his shoulder. He followed her when she leaved, before finally composing himself as they slowly walked through the forest, getting closer and closer to their destination. They stopped at the end of the tree line, before nodding at each other, Taiyang slowly walking to the gravestone that rested at the edge of the cliff. Watching as her father got to the grave and sat down in front of it, Yang just hugged her midsection, feeling bile in her throat. It was always something she had a difficulty with, especially on this date. Talking with her mom, through a grave, wasn't a pleasant experience. But from time to time, you had to do things that did not make you feel comfortable.

After almost ten minutes Taiyang stood up, leaving a sunflower on the grave, before walking back, tears in his eyes but a soft smile on his face. He hugged Yang and stood beside her, looking at her. She took a deep breath and started to walk towards the gravestone, her hands in her pockets clenched into fists, unease, but also fear and sadness oozing from her. When she arrived at the grave, she looked at it, before looking away at the horizon, the sun slowly setting and the sky getting red and purple tints as the sun disappeared.

"Hey mom. It's been a while. Happy Birthday. Man, this feels so weird" she laughed dryly, sadness filled in her facial expression. "I'm sorry I didn't come more often. It's just so hard sometimes when I think about you. Especially when I spent my days with Ruby. She looks so much like you. Oh, yeah right, you might not understand. I got accepted to Beacon almost a year and a half ago. Man, time does fly quickly when there's so much stuff happening. I got on a team with Ruby. She was the leader. And she was an awesome leader, even though she was childish and shy at first. She grew so much, especially mentally. She's still the little baby of our friend group but all those responsibilities that came with being a leader, plus the ones she put on her shoulder, made her mature so much. You should have seen her during the tournament or during our missions. She was so happy to be where she was… I can't begin to explain to you how it was. I was just so… proud of her, you know? I guess it's the same way you would have felt if you had seen her."

Yang slowly wiped away her tears, a smile plastered on her face as she recalled all those nights, all those days, everything that happened during their time at Beacon but her mood quickly grew somber as she recalled the events that preceded the attack.

"And me… well let's say that I'm not as awesome as I thought. I broke some guy's legs. Don't get me wrong, I was awesome during the tournament. Even if I left my rage guide me in our second-round fight, I got sent in the finals. And I fought all out and I won, but… but it wasn't a real fight. The guy lost on purpose, just so they could begin an evil scheme to bring down Vale. I was… I was used, played, I would have never won, I'm useless." She took a moment to take a breath, to control her tears, before removing her hands from her pockets, and slowly removing her jacket, finally revealing her prosthetic to the whole world. "And even when the invasion of Beacon started, I wanted to save my best fr… my partner. And when I tried, I lost myself in rage again and I lost an arm. And when Ruby woke up, after she fought tooth and nails to win this fight, I was an awful sister, I was the worst. So she left. Weiss left. Blake left. And now I'm so scared of everything. I just don't know… I just don't know what to do. I have to try to feel better for dad, I have to move forward, to accept the reality of what happened. But as long as I keep dad stuck here… I keep him from going to help Ruby. I'm… I'm such a failure mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So sorry to have failed that much… I'm not even there to help Ruby, when she needs me the most. I'm useless."

She jumped in surprise when she heard a telltale sound that she had heard so much during Beacon, but she jumped even more when she felt something pressed against her back, cold but soft hands encircling her midsection as she heard sobs, feeling the tears against her back as she was hugged with unprecedented strength.

"Shut up you oaf… Shut up. Don't you dare say that again."

"W… Weiss? What are you?"

"Shut up I said. Just… Just let me have this…"

"Alright Ice queen. Alright… "

"It's good to see you, you know?"

"It's good to see you as well Weiss."

The heiress softly hummed against her, pressing her head even more against the brawler'scollar bone, sobs filling the silent clearing as the sun kept setting over the horizon.

* * *

"What do you mean, you're doing this out of love? Out of care?" Shrieked the diva, her hands hitting hard against the table in the tent, making Velvet and Fox flinch, the first one in fear, the second one in pain.

Groaning, Blake rolled her eyes at Coco, crossing her arms in front of her. After they had dealt with the beowolves, they had walked slowly back to the refugee camp, Velvet walking on the left of Blake, never letting her out of her sight, which made Blake both uneasy, sad but happy. They may not have talked much, but they had bonded somewhat during their time at Beacon. But this was just weird. After half an hour of walk, they finally got back to the camp, Blake being shown the shower room, which she gladly went in, taking her first shower in way too long. After a few minutes, she got out and found clothes that were left for her, a military uniform, while her own clothes were sent to be washed. Dressing back up, she got out, before rejoining with team CFVY in the command tent, all of them talking among themselves until she finally entered. When she did, they all got quiet, waiting for her to do something.

She sat down at the end of the table, looking at team CFVY with sadness in her eyes, before taking a deep breath, her eyes resting on a point on the back of the tent, not wanting to meet her former classmate's eyes.

"You know what happened to Yang right?"

"Yeah… It was tragic, I heard about her arm loss a few days after the fight. Why?" answered the other faunus woman, worry in her eyes.

"Because…" trembling, Blake looked down, her eyes fixed on her intertwining fingers resting on the table "It's all my fault… I tried to fight against… Against someone dangerous and when she tried to save me! She lost her arm, because _he_ wanted to destroy everything I love! And _he_ will not rest until he's done killing everyone I love and care for!" she screamed as tears began to fall from her eyes, her fists clenched hard into fists. "I wanted to fight him, to end his sadistic streak and maybe, maybe try to make the White Fang back into the way it should have been! But I was a fool! I can't beat him, nobody that I know can!"

Blake stood up, throwing the chair away as she began pacing back and forth in the tent, team CFVY remaining silent as they watched the distressed faunus, nobody knowing what to do. Sure, they all had their fair share of things to get over after the battle of Beacon, after every mission and after every challenge. But this, this was something else. Except Velvet, who was always blaming herself in the first year when something bad happened to her team, none of them had been as distraught as Blake was.

"So I ran. I ran away from Ruby, from Weiss, from everybody, but most importantly, I ran away from Yang, to protect her! I had to… I had to disappear, because I care about them, because I love… _her."_

"What do you mean, you're doing this out of love? Out of care?" Shrieked the diva, her hands hitting hard against the table in the tent, making Velvet and Fox flinch, the first one in fear, the second one in pain.

Blake groaned and rolled her eyes, before locking her gaze with Coco, anger burning in both of their eyes "I mean, that they are so important to me, that I prefer to disappear from their lives, rather than see them suffer!"

"Oh yeah, because hunting the fucking white fang during months was really the best idea! Shut up Belladonna, you're not doing this out of love!"

Snarling, Blake jumped on Coco, each hitting each other with their fists, with Coco yelling coward and Blake crying while insulting her, the dam that she had built around her emotions finally breaking after almost eight months, finally accepting all the hate, anger, sadness, sorrow, but also the feeling of love, care, but also nostalgia of what she had at Beacon, of everything she had. Finally, she just broke, she stopped fighting and just stood up, heading out of the tent, before a hand rested on her shoulder. Turning around, she looked at Yatsuhashi, his stoic face not giving a hint off what he was thinking. He showed the chair she had thrown earlier, making her sigh.

"Please, Blake, listen to what I have to say. But first, sit down."

The faunus slowly nodded, never looking back at Coco, out of anger, but also out of shame. Slowly she sat back at the table, looking shyly at the giant of a man that was Yatsuhashi.

"I trust you when you say that you did what you did because of care and love. However, if you were really trying to flee from the White Fang, you wouldn't be fighting them. No, you would be hiding in a village anywhere. I believe that what you are doing, is you want to solve a problem by yourself, so you'll be able to look back at your friends and tell them that they're safe when you finally see them again. Am I wrong?"

She slowly shook her head, looking sheepishly at Fox and Velvet, before she looked directly at Coco, a lump in her throat.

"I'm – "

"Don't worry. I just said that because you had to see what you were doing." Answered the diva, smiling softly

"Blake" said Velvet, looking saddened at the cat faunus "Why… why didn't you just told them? Or, if you truly love Yang as much as you say, why not say to her that you had to take your distance so she wouldn't get hurt?"

"Because… You know Yang. Bleeding out and being hurt would not stop her from going after me. And frankly, I doubt that I would be able to go away if she asked me. I just – "

Suddenly, a man in the Vaccuan uniform entered the tent, panting softly as he got in a military salute, looking directly at Velvet. "Ma'am, I'm here to inform that team JACL is here and ready to take your place for the defense of the camp."

Nodding, Velvet smiled, before standing up, following the man outside, to welcome the new team as well as inform them of what was needed to be done around the area. Blake sighed and stood up, before Coco sat her back down, a grin on her face.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? You're leaving with us."

"But I – "

"No but. You have stuff to do back home, once you're done, you'll have the right to do as you please, but for now? I will drag you to Vale by the collar if I have to, understood?

Sighing, Blake nodded, a small smile on her lips as she looked at the yellow hints on her weapon, reminding her, everyday, what she was doing and why she was doing everything she was doing up until now.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Nope."

Well, of she didn't have a choice… Might as well go with it. She didn't want to fight Coco and her team just so she didn't have to meet Yang. She had to go back to her partner at some point and explain it to her. But she also knew she would be hated by Yang, Weiss and Ruby. She had failed them. But she was ready. She was ready to tell them the truth and explain to them everything.

Now if only she knew how to say it without crying and making a fool of herself in front of her best friends, that would be great.


	10. Reunion

"So… you going to let me go at some point or what?"

A simple hum answered a question as Weiss slowly backed away from the blond brawler, who turned around, smiled with tears in her eyes, before hugging her with the biggest, strongest, bearest bear hug she could manage, making Weiss groan in pain, but still nuzzled against the taller woman, a smile on their face, even with sadness in their eyes and expression. They stood still for a second, before someone coughed, making them turn their head, looking at Taiyang, Qrow and the rest of Weiss' crew. Everybody was smiling, even if Tai was glaring menacingly at Qrow. Sighing, the swordsman just shrugged, before walking towards the grave, putting his hand on Yang's shoulder with a soft smile.

"You have some talking to do. If I were you, I'd go elsewhere. It's not really the place, isn't it?"

"Yeah… You're right. Sorry Qrow."

"Heh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. Just go before I kick your butt"

They smiled, before they all separated, Weiss and Yang walking back towards the group at the edge of the forest, who was smiling softly at them. When they reached them, Yang slowly presented Weiss, Neon and Flynt to her father, making him smile even more.

"Well, if you're her friends and, since you" he said, looking at Weiss, who froze when his gaze landed on her "are Ruby's partner and Yang's teammate, you are more than welcome to come to my home. But you, however…" Taiyang's gaze slowly landed on Penny, who smiled at him while waving her hand at him. "I'd like to know, who are you?"

Slowly Weiss and Penny looked at each other, uncertain on how to answer. Did they really want to tell the truth? Especially in this situation, with Yang in such a fragile mental state? Weiss shook her head slowly and Penny nodded in agreement. Weiss sighed and put her hand on the robot girl's shoulder, with a sad smile.

"I can say that she's a friend. However, now is not the time, I'm sorry. But… Soon we'll explain everything."

Intrigued, the Xiao Long looked at each other, but let it pass none the less. Yang knew that if Weiss made a promise, she would keep it. So, they nodded, deciding not to ask more question and motioned the newcomers to follow them as they walked to their home, further in land. As Weiss and Yang were busy talking, Taiyang leading and Penny walking silently, lost in her thoughts, Neon poked (rather harshly) Flynt's ribcage, trying to get his attention. He groaned and rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring her. Was it really that difficult for the girl to have a normal level of human decency and simply ask to talk to him, or…

"What Neon?" yelled the musician, exasperated at the poking onslaught of the last two minutes. In front of him, the rest of the group was looking at him, eyebrows lifted as they kept their eyes looked on the two of them. "Sorry. She made me lose my cool. Again." He sighed waving off. They shrugged and Weiss very clearly rolled her eyes, but soon they resumed walking, while Neon was simply smiling at him. "What do you want?"

"I was wondering something…"

"Yes Neon?"

"After I told her to go on a diet, did Yang thing that losing a limb would do the same thing? Does she know that's not what I meant?"

"What. The. Fuck. Did that bitch say?"

Suddenly a wave of energy and fire engulphed the area, Yang's gaze firmly set on Neon, her eyes red with rage. But, as if an angry Yang wasn't enough, Weiss was slowly unsheathing her rapier, making the revolver cylinder rotate until it landed on the red dust, with a murderous intent filled gaze set on the party cat as well. Said party cat slowly walked backwards, laughing dryly as she looked at Flynt, who was currently in the process of the biggest facepalm ever. Of all time.

"I said that louder than I thought, right?" she asked, worry filled in her voice

"Yes Neon, yes you did."

"So… I should run?"

"Oh, yeah you should kitty cat." Said Yang, a mad grin on her face as she cracked the knuckles of her left hand.

"And you better get started quickly, because believe me, we won't go easy on you." Continued Weiss, with a stoic face but with anger filled in her eyes.

Quickly the forest was filled with shrieks of terror, sound of explosions and the smell of fire, lightning and ice, all combining to make the perfect mix of a new perfume that Flynt decided to name "Karma is a bitch". With a smile, Taiyang simply asked the two other young adults to follow him to his house, claiming that Yang wouldn't be too long away from home.

It was good to have some life back at home, stuff like this didn't happen for far too long.

* * *

"Are you going to finally explain why, how, and when you came here?"

Weiss looked at the brawler and rolled her eyes, sighing. They were all sitting in the living room of the house, Penny, Flynt and Neon sitting on the couch, Yang on the recliner, while Qrow and Taiyang just leaned against the wall. Weiss however was snuggling with Zwei on the ground, making little sounds of pleasure as he was getting belly rubs. Everybody kept silent, looking at the heiress, deep in thought, until she finally took a deep breath and locked eyes with the blond brawler. Alright, she thought, let's do this.

"If I do, promise me to answer my questions as well."

"Weiss, since when do I not answer questions?"

"Well, there was that time with the third year g…"

"Okay, carry on!" almost yelled Yang as she blushed.

She kept looking away from her father, who was frowning as he stared at his daughter, the fire in the fire place growing stronger, while Qrow was simply too busy laughing his ass off as he looked at his niece and her apparent unease. Proud of herself, Weiss smiled before she cleared her throat, making everybody look back at her. She slowly told how it had been back home, she told them about the interdiction of training, everything her father had said, what he had ordered of her, every time she was used to help alleviate public tension, how she had to sing at so many charity concert, only to please the rich and powerful of Atlas, and most of all, keep a perfect facade in front of everybody, for her father's sake. However, she never saw Yang's eyes getting redder and redder, Qrow clenching his jaw or penny's hands tightening on her knees, she never saw Neon and Flynt looking at each other sadly and she definitely never saw the flames in the fireplace bursting up in the chimney as Taiyang fought to keep his calm, the heiress just kept looking at the ground.

"So, three days ago, I was asked by my father to head to Vacuo with…" slowly, Weiss and Penny locked eyes, before the robotic girl nodded slowly. " Yang… when you look at her" she motioned towards Penny, making everyone look at the fidgeting android who would have been blushing if she could "what do you see?"

"Wh… what?"

"Just answer me Yang."

"Alright, alright. Well, I see copper hairs, green eyes, a suit that, frankly, I've only seen people wear at funerals in tv shows. I see… naivete in your eyes, a little bit like Ruby, but also fear. I see also a stoic face, which is weird, because you have difficulty handling your other physical reactions. Also…"

"God damn it Yang, sometime I really believe that your hair says the truth about your brain power." slurred Qrow, as he took a large sip from his flask, a grin on his face as he saw the look of betrayal on his niece's face. "Even me, drunk as I am, can see that it's the robot girl from the tournament."

Yang's face quickly shifted from anger to horror, fear, sadness, incomprehension and a million of other emotions, her brain going on a frenzy as it struggled to understand what had been said, staring at Penny who simply had a shy smile and waved slowly.

"Salutation miss Xiao Long, I'm Penny Polendina, but as I've been told, we're supposed to know each other. Sadly, I have no recollection of you or any members of your team."

"Speaking of which…" Weiss stood up and stared at Yang, her arms crossed in front of her, standing in front of Yang, who raised an eyebrow at her. "Where's Ruby? Where's the dolt?"

Suddenly, it was silent again, Yang, Taiyang and Qrow all looking away, with Qrow standing up to go gaze outside, shutting himself out from everything, everyone, which only made Weiss panic more as she looked back at Yang, with tears in her eyes.

"Y… Yang?"

"She left." Answered Qrow, as he took out his flask, only to look at it and put it back against the window, before turning back. "She left with the rest of JNPR? Is that it? I can't remember what it was. The team with Pyrrha in it."

Mouth agape, Weiss could feel tears running down her cheeks as she turned back to Yang, fists clenched tight with suppressed anger from her own failure as a big sister.

"And… And what about B…"

"I don't want to talk about it!" answered Yang, her eyes red in an instant as she stood up, only to head outside, slamming the door behind her, leaving the house in complete silence, if not for Weiss's soft sobs as she kept her gaze on the closed door. She couldn't tell how much time had passed, before she felt a hand on her shoulder, slowly tugging her to turn around. Stiffening when she saw Taiyang so close to her, she slowly eased up when he motioned her to the kitchen. She shyly smiled at him before following him instinctively.

Her team was torn apart, but if she had anything to say, it wasn't going to stay that way for long.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but I need to go, a few friends of mine are heading on a mission and they've asked me to take on a bit of their work at Signal, I won't be gone for long."

Taiyang was standing on the porch, a few minutes after they all had a meal, spent talking to each other, telling stories of their past, of their missions or simply of their home. Yang however was not with them, still gone, but that didn't worry her father one bit. The island was pretty well secured, with only a few grimms from time to time. She is a big girl, he said, but that didn't prevent Weiss from worrying. Weiss and Qrow were on the porch with him, Qrow sipping from a glass of scotch while Weiss was only being outside to see if Yang had returned. When she saw that she wasn't there, she simply sighed, before heading back inside, towards the room she was supposed to share with the blond brawler for the time they were supposed to stay here.

"So, who's leaving?" asked Qrow as Weiss was leaving.

"Oh, it's team JACL (jackal). They finished their tour so they are taking missions again for a few months while they write new songs."

"Oh? I thought that Jeff said he and Casey were done with missions and were going to concentrate on music."

"Yeah…" Taiyang simply shrugged before sighing. "Let's say that the Fall of Beacon changed a lot of things. For a lot of people."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

They stood in silence, before Taiyang just turned around, waving at Qrow while he still headed towards the main town, towards Signal. But what he didn't tell anyone, was what he had in mind after having been to Beacon. He slowly pulled a piece of paper, where an address was written down. At this time of the day, he was ready to bet that the girl from the other day, the one that had made Yang snap, would be there. And he really wanted answers.

Even if he had to take them by force.

For his part, Qrow simply gave a hand around the house, making sure that everybody was settled for the night. It would have made Summer proud, seeing that he had decided to take his responsibilities in hand, but... it would also make his sister and Taiyang laugh their ass off, thus he made sure to guarantee that the four young adults that were still at home didn't say a thing to the owner of the house. Or else he wouldn't here the end of it. He slowly walked through the house's upper floor's hallway, stopping in the bedroom that Weiss was in, sitting on the bed and looking outside, her gaze empty of any emotions, lost in her thought. The drunken hunter sighed, before walking in and knocking softly, making the heiress jump a smile on her face, before a frown was quickly replaced on her lips.

"What do you want?"

"Ouch, just as cold as your sister."

"Stop comparing me to her!" almost yelled Weiss, snarling as she saw the smirk on the man's lips

"Alright, alright. You're moody. Wanna talk about it?"

"No. Not with you."

Qrow sighed, before looking outside, towards the distant glow of the city. Running a hand through his hair, he groaned when he made a decision.

"I guess you're angry at her for leaving?" waiting a few moment to see if she had anything to say. When she said nothing, he simply sighed again, before continuing. "I know you don't like me, and I've made a lot of things for you to do so, but... Just listen to me. Maybe you'll understand why she was angry. " Weiss slowly turned her head, looking at the man who smiled slowly at her. "So, after she met up with you..."

* * *

Four hours had passed and everybody, except Qrow, had gone to bed, the toll of the day having been massive for the group. Flynt and Neon shared the bedroom that Ruby and Yang used to sleep in, Penny didn't need sleep but none the less went in power saving mode on the couch, while Weiss was laying on the bed in Yang's new bedroom, who previously was a guest room, waiting for the return of her friend and (ex) teammate. When midnight rang, the heiress sighed, before rolling around in bed, trying the best she could to get some sleep. After a few minutes, she jumped up when she finally heard someone walking towards the bedroom she was in. Standing still but her hand ready to grab her rapier, she tensed even more when she heard the foot steps stop in front of the bedroom. Slowly the door opened, someone walking slowly towards the bed. Suddenly Weiss was hit by the smell of alcohol and she rolled around in bed, her eyes resting on Yang, with an angry look in the ice blue eyes.

"Wh… what… where were…"

"Shhhhhh" Yang said, resting a finger on Weiss' lips, making her blush at the pressure again her lips. "Sorry… I kinda needed some time to think."

"Yeah, so you decided to drink?"

"Nah, I drank when I was coming back. I actually went to see a friend of mine."

"Oh? Who is he?"

"He?" inelegantly, Yang snorted before dissolving in laughter, in front of a dumb struck Weiss "It's a girl and she's… six? Or maybe seven? I can't remember."

"You… Befriended a seven-year-old?" sighing, Weiss rolled her eyes before setting them back on Yang with a grin "Well, I guess you probably have about the same IQ."

Yang stared at the heiress, before pouting, grabbing the covers of the bed and throwing them away, leaving the heiress shivering in her sleepwear, glaring back at her. Laughing, Yang grabbed the heiress by the hand, before lifting her up to hug her softly, a smile on her lips.

"Sorry I forgot about it and it's a bit late for that, but… Happy birthday Weiss. I completely forgot to buy you something."

"Oh, shut up you big oaf, you wouldn't have bought me anything."

"… True."

The looked at each other, before both dissolving in a fit of laughter and giggle, pain and sadness seemingly lifted from their shoulder as they shared, for the first time in almost a year, a pleasant moment with someone from their team, from their new family, or rather, their old family now

"But even if I would have bought you nothing, you'd still love me." Yang slurred, before pushing Weiss back on the bed, a grin sprayed across your face.

"God you're a barbarian." The heiress said while she rolled her eyes with a smile. "It's not because I'm in your bed that I feel that way. I care about you, I care about my team, I love you, Ruby, Bl…"

"Don't. Say. That. Name." said Yang, her smile having quickly disappeared, replaced by a red glare that made Weiss gulp loudly. They stood still for a few minutes, before Yang sighed and sat on the bed, her shoulders dropping as she sighed. "It's not against you Weiss, it's just… I feel so betrayed… So, rejected. I don't know, I can't stop the anger towards her, but I also can't stop all the other emotions. And I feel so… helpless when I'm reminded of her."

"Hey…" said the heiress softly, almost not loud enough for Yang to hear, until she hugged the brawler from the back, her chin resting on Yang's left shoulder. "I'm pretty sure that she left for a good reason. Your… Your uncle gave me a run down of what you told him about the attack."

"Hmmm…"

"Let's… Let's just get some sleep and we'll see about the rest tomorrow or another day. Alright?"

"Sure… Why not?"

Yang left the room shortly after that, only to come back in her own sleepwear. She stopped near the bed and slowly, looked down, not meeting Weiss' gaze. Uneasy, she began to toy with her hair, trying to decide what she had to say, but most importantly, how she could say it.

"Could… you turn around? Please?"

Nodding and blushing, Weiss slowly rolled, looking out the window and the beautiful starry sky. She heard a thud when something metallic and heavy was left on the bedside table and she quickly felt every muscle in her body stiffen as she understood what happened. Still, she decided to keep her mouth shut, not wanting to make it even more difficult. The lights in the room then turned off as Yang closed the few lights with a switch, before heading finally to bed, sliding in it next to Weiss, without a word. The two young women stayed silent for almost twenty minutes, back to back, waiting to see if the other one would drift first to sleep, before Yang rolled around and grabbed Weiss' midsection with her arm, making the heiress yelp in surprise as she was suddenly the little spoon to Yang.

"Hum… Yang?"

"Just… Thank you. For coming. Even if you thought that you would be able to see everybody… It means a lot to me."

"Yang… Team RWBY means everything to me. We are family."

"Yeah… I get it. You're quite important in my life too. I care about our team. Well… What we had."

"We'll have it again one day Yang, one day. I promise"

"Let's hope."

"Hey Yang?"

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know… I really care about you, Ruby and… Blake."

She felt Yang tense and she stayed silent while the brawler fought with her fight or flight instinct. After a few minutes, Yang simply rested her head against Weiss' collarbone with a sigh.

"Yeah, me too."

Slowly they drifted towards sleep, one last thought flashing in their minds just before the fell asleep, making one of them smile, the other own frown.

 _If only you could understand how much you three mean to me._

 _If only you could understand how much she means to me._


	11. Gears are set in motion

There was only a few people walking in the dark of the night, everybody cooped up and happy with their lives, carefree and without worry, spared from the atrocity of war or constant struggle. This only made Taiyang smile more. He knew he had one of the most dangerous job in the world, even more than any soldier, any general or anyone from Atlas. He wasn't backed by an army of mindless drones, he wasn't rich as a Schnee, able to hire some huntsmen to come with him or to have the luxury to still have his team. No, he was alone, he was a hunter and he would die before he could leave someone be threatened. And now, his daughter was sought out by someone, someone who had brought pain and sadness to his little dragon. Someone that broke down what she had manage to slowly build back up in the course of a few months. He scowled when he thought back to what happened that day and he groaned when he began to think. What could he hope to do? What could he hope to learn? Nothing. He couldn't do anything, except understand what was going on.

From what Qrow had told him, Ruby and Yang had been involved in something, something huge, and they had a target painted on their backs. He did try to protect his eldest daughter, but… he couldn't do anything for Ruby, while she was on the other side of Remnant, away from him and any form of backup. Qrow did promise to head back there the next day, but that still wasn't enough for the blond brawler. He wanted his daughter back home, with a way to help her. Still, he understood why she was doing this. She was the carbon copy of Summer, and Summer would have never backed down from a life-threatening situation as that one, not when it could endanger anybody and she had the opportunity to do anything about it.

Taiyang smiled and sighed, looking up at the building he was now standing in front of. The hotel was one of the few on the island and it was the address he was given by the mysterious girl. He looed around, making sure that nobody was making an ambush and he went in, headed straight to the desk and smiled at the young clerk. The long mahogany desk was slightly lit by a few lights around and over it, a few pamphlets of touristic traps around the island were left on display, as well as an information pamphlet about the dangerous areas of the island, to avoid any accidents as best as possible. The blond clerk smiled at the huntsmen and quickly straightened her uniform, before resting her hands together in front of her.

"Hello professor, how may I help you? "

"Hello Sandy, I didn't know you also worked at this hotel. You need to pay for your studying at Signal? "

"Sadly, yes, but only because I don't want my parents to pay everything for me. I feel bad that they have to deprive themselves of some things they like, only to offer me the opportunity to become a huntress "

"Well, it's really kind of you. I' sure your parents are proud of you, no matter what. On another note… I need answers Sandy, but I don't know if you'll be able to help me. "

"Oh? What is it sir? "

"I'm looking for someone. Ice cream colored girl, she's about… I dunno… less than 5 feet tall and we believe she's mute. Does it ring a bell? "

Sandy looked around, clearing her throat as she blushed slightly, uneasy at the question. "Sir, I'm not supposed to - "

"I understand Sandy, but she got into my home, caused trouble on my property and created problems for Yang. I can't let this slide, I need answers. "

Sandy gulped loudly as she saw the fire in the fireplace grow bigger as Taiyang explained what was going on, she nodded slowly and slowly hid behind the counter, looking for the back up key that they stored there, just in case an accident happened. When she got back up, she handed him the key card. "Room 106, as far as I know, she hasn't left the building tonight. But… Sir? Please, refrain from causing damage, please. "

"Come on Sandy " he said, smiling kindly, the fire behind him going back to a normal size "Since when do I cause trouble or damage? "

"All the time sir. The headmaster keeps yelling at you after every combat class. "

Taiyang laughed, and waved at the girl, heading to the elevators in silence, thinking about what he was going to do. He wanted answers at his questions, but he also wanted to protect his family. By jumping right in the mouth of the wolf, was he doing something good, or something bad? Was he causing more problem? Or was he helping? He took a deep breath and rode the elevator up to the next floor, arms crossed. He slowly walked up to the door, took a deep breath and knocked. He waited for a few moments, before the door was opened forcefully, the young woman appearing in front of him with a smile, that was quickly replaced by a pout.

"What, not expecting me? Sorry sweetie, but it'll be the best you'll get for now. We HAVE to talk, don't you think? "

She nodded slowly and he smiled when she let him get inside, looking around the hallway to make sure nobody was with him, and she locked it behind herself. She turned around and followed him and sat on the bed, while he sat on the desk, smiling at her.

"So… anything to say for yourself? "

She sighed louder, took out her scroll and began to tap on it, before showing it back to the huntsman

 _It's a long story_

"Not a problem. I have all night for your story. I need answers, and you'll tell me everything and after that, I'll see what I should do with you. Deal? "

 _Yes. Now… You need to know, I don't know everything, but I can begin with the first time I met your daughter and I'll explain as much as I can, starting from there._

"Good, I'm listening… Or reading. I don't know really. "

* * *

When Weiss woke up, she couldn't see anything, other than darkness. She could however feel a lot of things. For starter, a hand on her back, a strong arm around her. She could also feel hotness against her face, she could feel softness against it while it also felt solid, like a muscle. Lastly, she could feel a frequent sensation of movement. Suddenly the heiress froze and stiffened, took a deep breath and blushed madly as she recognized the smell. And she also recognized the feeling of Yang laughing against her. Slowly, Weiss disengaged, backing away from Yang and her cleavage, blushing as red as Ruby's hood, getting face to face with a grinning Yang.

"So… "

"Say something and I swear to any god, that I'll cut you tongue off. "'

They stayed silent for a few seconds, glaring at each other, before Yang cracked.

"So you WERE enjoying the goods! "

"YANG XIAO LONG, I'M GOING TO END YOU! "

Laughing, the blond woman jumped off her bed, before freezing, realising something was missing. Something really important. She quickly moved to the bedside table and grabbed her robotic arm, before a soft hand grabbed her by the wrist. Yang gulped hard, before turning her head towards Weiss, worry filled in her face. Slowly adding pressure on the wrist, Weiss forced Yang to release the arm, before patting the bed, on her left. Sighing, Yang sat down, looking away, fist clenched while Weiss softly rubbed the damaged arm, from the shoulder, slowly making her way to the stump.

"Calm down, everything's okay, I swear. " Weiss said softly when Yang tensed. "Yang… this is you, and, frankly, even like this, you are still beautiful. You are still amazing. So please, don't feel ashamed. At least not to me, not to your friends, your teammates. I'll help you to get over all of this, but only if you are ready to do the same for yourself. "

"Man, stop talking like my dad, you're not supposed to be like him "

"Well, that means that he cares a lot about you. "

Yang smiled softly, before nodding. They stood like this for a few minutes, in silence, before a knock was heard at the door. They looked at each other, before Yang took her mechanical arm, putting it back on while Weiss went to the door. When she opened it, she frowned as she looked at Qrow.

"What? "

"Damn, still cold to me? Even after yesterday? "

"Just tell her what you want Qrow" Yang said from inside, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"I'm just here to show you something before I head out back to Mistral, Yang, so… when you're ready, just come see me in the garage, alright? "

With that, Qrow just turned around, a cryptic smile plastered on his face. The two young women looked at each other, before changing into more adequate clothing. When they left Yang was in a pair of black jeans and a yellow and white t-shirt, still wearing her father's old vest, to the sadness of Weiss. On her part, Weiss was in a white summer dress, with a red and black shawl over her shoulders, which made Yang laugh. After all, was she fleeing from home, or was she going to prepare for balls or events that needed such clothing. They bickered for the few moments that it took them to get to the garage, Weiss quickly pointing out that she WAS indeed supposed to go somewhere where such events would have occurred. Weiss however stopped talking when they got in front of the door to the garage, taking a deep breath to prepare mentally to spend a long amount of time with Qrow.

"But you decided to come here… are the goods really that much to your liking? " asked Yang, with a shit eating grin on her face.

"You know what Yang? " asked the heiress in a sigh, before her eyes locked with Yang's, an angelic smile appearing on her face as she pushed Yang against the wall, her hands roaming on the blond brawler's sides, moving up and down slowly. "Maybe they did really interest me. Maybe I'll have to take advantage of our sleeping arrangements to spend more time with them… don't you think?"

"Okay, this is too flirty, who are you and what have you done to Weiss?" asked Yang, blushing as she looked away from the heiress, who simply grinned before going inside the garage, a red-faced Yang in tow.

"W… What… In fact, do I want to know what happened to have Yang blushing like a high school girl?

"Nope! " quickly answered Yang, her blush reddening even more when Qrow raised an eyebrow. ''Why did you want me Qrow? "

"Well…" began Qrow, clearing his throat, deciding that he was too sober for this. "As we know, you have a robotic arm…"

"No shit, Sherlock"

"BUT, having something, doesn't mean you own it, which is why… I've decided to buy you this. " He said, revealing a maintenance bench, accompanied by a few can of paint. Slowly, Yang walked to it all, observing everything that was on display. She softly ran her finger through the few upgrades and spare parts, as well as the painting equipment that was left around the bench. She smiled, tears in her eyes, when she turned around, grabbing her uncle for a hug, a soft sob being heard in the garage while Yang just stood still for a few moments in her uncle's arms. Weiss simply smiled at Qrow who had a smug grin as he stared at the heiress.

"So, am I still a jackass? "

"Yes. Yes, you are. "

"Damn! "

"Well, Qrow, at least, you're not a Jacque-ass" mumbled Yang, before moving away from the hug.

"Did... did you do a pun using my father's name? "

"Hum… Maybe? "

"I like it. " Answered the heiress, a grin appearing on her

"Oh, thank god, I was scared shitless that you were angry. "Sighed Yang in relief, a smile plastering her face, before they both dissolved in a laughing spree, unable to contain the emotions that they were feeling, the relief that they felt after their talk yesterday and this morning.

When they finally regained their cool, Weiss excused herself from the garage, leaving Qrow to show to Yang how the maintenance on the arm was made. Closing the door, she slowly walked to the dining-room, where a pair of smiling Neon and Flynt were looking at her. She raised an eyebrow, before completely ignoring them, heading to one of the cupboards and taking out a bowl. She left if on a counter, before turning around to get cereals, but she stopped moving when she saw Flynt and Neon still looking at her and still smiling. She groaned and rolled her eyes, before crossing her arms with a glare.

"What is it? "she asked dryly, a scowl on her face.

"So… What was that? " asked Flynt, with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"What do you… "

"DID YOU FUCK? " asked Neon, slamming her hands on the table, a huge grin on her face, making Flynt and Weiss blush and groan.

"What the heck are you…"

"We saw what happened with Yang, so we began to wonder what was going on between you two" softly said Penny, coming in from the living-room with a little smile, resting her body on the doorframe, her hands behind her back.

Groaning Weiss slammed her head against the refrigerator's door, making Penny and Flynt chuckle, while Neon slammed her hands again, almost shouting once again.

"BUT YOU DIDN'T ANSWER WEISS, DID YOU F…"

The plate of toast that Neon suddenly crashed with her face, a black glyph quickly disappearing from the place it rested a few seconds earlier. Weiss smiled calmly, before sitting at the table, a bowl of cereal in hand.

"You asked for this Neon, you know that, do you? "

"Yeah yeah, shut it. " said the party girl, slowly removing the peanut butter that was stuck on her face with her finger.

Everybody stayed silent for a moment, before Weiss sighed and looked up at Neon and Flynt. She then turned her head to look towards the garage, then Penny, motioning her to sit beside her. When they were all sat at the table, Weiss played slowly with the milk in her bowl, looking at it intensely. She took a deep breath, before looking back at her friends.

"I'm in love with Yang, I won't deny it. So yes, what you saw was me letting my emotions taking control of me. However… I'm not only in love with her. I love Yang, but I also love Blake and Ruby, each for their various reasons. I love Yang for her drive and determination, for her strength and for everything she does for us. I love Ruby for her energy and innocence, for her happiness that she brings to everybody, for her naivete that push everybody around her to become better, if only to protect that simple soul. And I love Blake for her honesty, well at least, when she's not hiding who she is out of shame or fear. I love her for her sanity, the way she always tries to stay focused on what's important, while also being childish and falling back into a slightly immature demeanor when you involve smutty books or seafood. "

She sighed and slammed her head against the table while Penny softly rubbed her back, a s mile plastered on her face. Neon was blushing, rubbing her neck in uneasiness while Flynt was simply sitting with his arms crossed.

"But to answer you question Neon" said Weiss, still her face against the table, mumbling slightly "No, I did not sleep with Yang"

"Good, because if you did, you and I would need to have a talk. "

Suddenly, Weiss stood up, blushing madly as Taiyang dissolved in a fit of laughter, holding his sides with all his strength, trying his best not to fall. After a few moments of a blushing Weiss babbling quickly and everybody else laughing at what was happening, Taiyang slowly dried his tears from laughter, gasping slightly for air. When everybody calmed down, Taiyang simply walked to one of the cabinets to take out a bag of chips. Still blushing, Weiss was rocking on her heels, looking at the ground, awaiting the anger of the hunter.

"Weiss, don't worry, it's okay, I'm not mad. I've heard… Well, I've heard everything, so I have to tell you this. Don't worry, because you're not the only one that went through this. You're not the first one and believe me, you won't be the last. So, if anything happens with any of my girls, you have my blessing, because I know that you won't hurt any of them. "

The heiress quickly nodded still blushing, but at least smiling.

"But… If someone could go get Yang for me, I have a few things to talk to her, especially about… " slack jawed, Taiyang didn't finish his sentence, starring at the entrance of the dining room. Everybody turned around and Weiss gasped loudly as she looked at the new appearance of Yang's arm.

The arm was now a deep black, with the joints, the finger tips and the elbow a shiny gold colored tone added to it. But what made Weiss smile the most, was the four symbols that were surrounded by a yellow circle. First, a red rose, followed by a white snowflake, a black Belladonna flower and finally, a black burning heart, all aligned from the wrist o the elbow in a perfect line. Grinning, Yang moved her arm slowly to showcase every side of it, acting as innocently as possible.

"What, is something wrong? " she asked, smugly

"That" said Taiyang with a smile on his lips "is some badass robot arm"

"Yeah, but it's not yet finished, I have some last things to add to it when the paint will be completely dried. So dad, what did you want to tell me? "

"Well… I'll be heading to Vale for a few days, there are things I want to know. But… I won't be going alone. And I want you to know with whom I'm going. "

He took out his scroll and sent a message, before moving slowly to the living room, where Neo was sitting. In a heartbeat, Weiss casted glyphs to pin down Neo to the couch, while Yang's semblance instantly made her hair flicker with energy, her hands clenching in fists. Seeing the reaction of both the other girls, Neon, Flynt and Penny were quick to pull out their own weapons, ready for a fight, before Taiyang groaned at the reaction the presence of Neo had caused.

"See? This is why I told you to wait outside. Okay everyone, store your weapons, it's okay, she's not evil. "

"She tried to kill me! " yelled Yang, doing everything to keep her anger in check.

"Yes, but Yang, what did I tell you about rushing into a problem? She did things because she was ordered to do things. But now, she's free to do what she wishes, and that, is to get her revenge on Cinder, the woman who caused everything that happened in Vale. She has given me information about things that I need to look into, maybe pull some strings I haven't used in a while. "

"Like what, exactly? " asked Weiss, dryly as she removed the glyphs from Neo's legs and arms, in an act of good will, but keeping her torso and waist pinned to the couch.

"Like the fact that some guy in Vale has too much information and could really need the supervision of an adult on how he's handling such information…" answered Taiyang, gritting his teeth. "Now undo your glyphs please, we have a boat to take in an hour and she needs to pack some stuff for a few days, even if she says she doesn't need anything. "

Reluctantly, Weiss undid her final glyphs glaring menacingly at Neo, who simply smiled as she stood up, doing a little curtsy. However, when she was done with her curtsy she sighed and looked at Yang, saddened, before slowly walking outside. Everybody stood still before Yang turned around, heading to the garage, to the punching bag they had in it. Looking at the group that was assembled in the living room, Weiss groaned.

"Alright, but let's do something to ease us. Penny, I want you to accompany Mr Xiao Long and… her. If she tries anything fishy, don't be afraid to hit her hard. She's dangerous. "Penny nodded firmly, heading to the bedroom that neon and Flynt were using, to go take a change of clothes. "Flynt, Neon, I want you to head to an hotel near the airfield and keep an eye on anyone, or anything, that may look suspect If there is anything you find suspicious, keep me informed. "

"Well, impressive Snow Princess, you actually are more bite than bark. "

"And you! Weren't you supposed to keep HER safe? To protect Ruby, but also Jaune, Ren and Nora? "

Qrow stood still for a few moments, before smiling and ruffling the heiress' hair as he passed her towards the door, heading outside the house "Yeah, I'll miss you too Snow Princess. And, Weiss? " he looked back towards her, their eyes locking into each other for an instant, before he waved at her as he finally left the house. "I know that Winter would be proud of you. You are growing into a fine lady. Keep moving forward"

Weiss smiled softly as the drunkle left the house and she sighed as she looked around. She knew where everyone was, but… she wasn't where she had to be. She took a deep breath and closed the distance between herself and the garage door.

If that blond oaf didn't want to face her demons, she'd have to face Weiss Schnee. And frankly, it's highly probable that Yang would have preferred to face her demons when she had the chance.


	12. Train and Reunite

Opening the door slowly, Weiss smiled softly when she saw Yang punching away her anger on a punching bag, a light coat of sweat covering her forehead. Hitting as hard as she could, the punching bag was swaying more than it should have been possible, especially considering the high amount of sand inside of it. But as she had learned after almost a year, Weiss knew that if there was one thing that Yang was unrivaled in, was her monstrous strength and her high level of endurance. Who else, other than that hot-headed blond, could lift a giant speaker, survive being shot through the roof of the cafeteria and land down after an absurd amount of time and being punched through a pillar of solid concrete by a giant mech? She was a tank. She was strong, powerful, confident. She was always there for any of them to unwind and take out some pressure, some stress. She was always smiling, always happy, always supportive. She was always there for all of them, never asking anything in return. But she also never explicitly came for support herself. She always said that she was alright, that nothing was aloof, that everything was perfectly fine. But Weiss, Ruby and Blake, they could always see when something was bothering her, but they never once tried to get it out from her. But now, there was only one last thing to be done.

"Yang, stop it, this instant! " she said firmly, just before the blond brawler hit the punching bag once more with her robotic hand.

"Why Weiss? I don't have the right to do something? I don't have the right to tell my father that this woman is dangerous, I don't have the right to want him safe, I don't have the right to give my opinion and now I don't have the right to punch things? I'm an adult Weiss, I'm older than you even, so please, don't give me that shit! I lost an arm, but I can still take care of…"

Weiss rolled her eyes, before grabbing Yang by her left hand, pulling her towards the maintenance bench, she kept her eyes locked on Yang until they were both sitting down. Taking out the air brush, Weiss slowly made sure that the paint that was removed from Yang's punching on the bag was replaced with some new one, as well as putting a second layer on the parts that needed it. She went at it in silence for what felt like hours for both of them. She heard the door open, Neon gasp and the door closing quickly, but she never reacted. She ignored everything, taking great care in the task at hand.

"Yang… you have to be more careful with it. Especially when the paint is still not dry"

"Weiss, why are you doing this? I can do it you know"

"I'm doing it because I'm sick of seeing you help us deal with our problems, but shut us out when you are having some of your own. We all were, back at Beacon. We were all worried that it might blow up one day and that it would be catastrophic. And… the way I see it? It is already catastrophic. "

Looking up from the metal arm, Weiss took a deep breath, locking eyes with the brawler, ice blue in warm lilac. She slowly smiled, before putting down the airbrush, moving away from the robotic arm to rest her hands on her knees, which were just a few centimeters away from Yang's.

"You know, those benches are made so that you can let stuff dry on it. That way you don't leave paint everywhere. Come on. It's just us for a few days. It's almost like the good old time when we were all together in the dorm. "

Smiling softly, Weiss stood up before heading back out of the garage, leaving Yang to look at the arm in silence. Going back to the bedroom, Weiss removed her summer dress, paint stains on it and she groaned when she looked at her hands that were dirty as well. She quickly headed to the bathroom with her towel, a shower being the only thing on her mind at that moment.

For her part, Yang stood silently in the garage, looking at her right arm, at the beautiful arm that she used to have, replaced by this robotic appendage. She took a deep breath and slowly began to remove it, making sure to not touch the paint. When it was finally fixated on the bench, she slowly moved away from it, fearing that something, anything happened to it or her, for the time they were separated. But she knew it would never happen. She was safe right now. Her father had left, but he was coming back. He was going to make it back, he was not leaving forever. Not leaving for good, like her mother had. She smiled softly as she looked at the closed door, thinking of her caring teammate, Weiss, of what she had done in only two days, everything that she had sacrificed just to be beside her friends once more. Slowly Yang stood up, thinking of her little sister, her little ray of sunshine after Summer's passing. She thought of everything they lived, everything they went through together. She felt happy when she finally opened the door, heading towards the kitchen for something to eat. Maybe she didn't always lose what mattered to her. Maybe she still had people that weren't going to leave her. Even if the ones she cared the most about already did.

Stopping in front of the sink, she sighed and rested her hand against the tap. Weiss had come back yes, but Ruby had left and Blake had fled. They weren't coming back, or at least weren't coming back soon. Same for Qrow, even if it was to take care of Ruby. And her mother had abandoned her when she was a toddler. But the worst thing is that she even managed to be angry at her mom, at Summer, for dying. Why did she have to die on that mission? She had promised them cookies and a new story. But she never came back, they never had those cookies and…

Taking a deep breath, Yang's gaze was suddenly filled with resolve and she clenched her fist, before beginning to rummage through the cupboards. She had things to do, things that should have been made long ago.

* * *

After a scolding hot shower, something she had disregarded the previous day, Weiss slowly walked back to her room, the towel around her body, hiding everything. Not that it really mattered as no one other than Yang was in the house and, after a full year in living in close proximity with her teammates, it was something that didn't bother her as much as it used to. She smiled when she remembered how things were different in the beginning. When she and Blake were always hiding when changing clothes, while the sisters seemed to have almost no shame. Of course, after one year of training, life-threatening missions and bonding, things tend to change quite drastically. Trust was the biggest thing that had changed in their relationship as a team. They cared about each other, they didn't have someone else that they had that kind of relationship outside of their team. It was something that…

Suddenly Weiss stopped in her tracks as she took a deep breath, taking in the smell that was assailing her senses. She quickly got to her room, putting up another change of clothes, a light blue blouse with a pair of black pants, the Schnee crest emblazoned on both clothing pieces. She quickly headed to the kitchen and stared at the lightly humming Yang who was taking out a batch of cookies from the oven, while a bowl of dough was still on the side, ready to be portioned and cooked. Moving closer with a smile, Weiss looked at the mess that was the kitchen, flour on the floor when a bag a dropped, a broken egg on the counter top and a bag of chocolate chips empty while a second one, with a note written "Reserved for Ruby, eat at your own risks" with a drawing of what Weiss assumed was Ruby with Crescent Rose. Rolling her eyes, Weiss laughed softly.

"She's such a dunce…"

Jumping in surprised, Yang almost dropped the cookies, but quickly got her balance back and left the hot cookies to cool on top of the oven, with her eyes, darting to the Heiress who simply looked at her in disbelief. "Holy shit, you scared me! Don't do that again! "

"I'm sorry, I didn't… I don't… Sorry? "

"It's okay, it's just… Damn, I thought that you were still in your shower, that's all. "

"Oh, yeah, I finished about ten minutes ago. But, seriously Yang, what are you doing? "

"Well… cookies? "

Weiss took a deep breath to calm her anger and simply looked back at Yang with her infamous death glare, which only made the blond woman laugh. Crossing her arms to emphasize her point, Weiss slowly walked to the grinning woman and, with a simple smile, hit her as hard as she could on the arm.

"You know that's not what I meant! Why are you making those cookies? "

"Because… because someone had to do them at some point. When our mom left for her last mission we were supposed to have cookies when she came back and… well, you know. So, I finally did them. The cookies that Summer Rose was supposed to have made 12 years ago. "

"Yang…"

"Don't worry, it's just that… I was thinking about stuff and it clicked in my head. They were never done. Of course, we did a lot of cookies since, but they were never… Summer's cookies you know? Well, now they're finally done. Maybe that'll help her rest more in peace. "

Slowly Weiss moved to the brawler and took her into her arms, hugging her softly as the taller woman just ran her hand on the back of the heiress. They stood still for a few minutes, before Weiss slowly moved away from the hug, smiling softly at Yang.

"I'm pretty sure your mom is proud of Ruby, your father and you. And I'm certain that she is happy where she is, even if you never did those cookies just because she was supposed to do them. "

"Yeah… probably. But I felt like I had to do it. "

"Well, now you've done it, so how about we test them? After that, I want to practice my summoning, I feel like I'm so close to do a breakthrough. "

"How comes? " asked Yang, a cookie already in her mouth, making sure to hide her mouth with her hand, preventing Weiss from being utterly disgusted at the sight of half eaten food.

Sighing, the heiress simply stood up, straightening her combat skirt, before closing her eyes, making a glyph appear next to her. After a few seconds, a flash of light was emitted and a blue and white beowolf stood next to Weiss, snuggling against her hand. Mouth hanging open, Yang simply looked at the creature in amazement.

"So, yes, that's a thing my semblance can do. I can summon defeated enemies. However, I can't… I can't understand how to summon completely my first real challenge. A gigantic suit of armor, a knight, that I had to fight to gain the right to go to Beacon. I managed to summon part of it during the fall, but now, I can't! and it's driving me crazy!"

Grinning, Yang quickly ate the last bit of her cookie, before dragging Weiss by the hand through the front door. The heiress for her part, followed the brawler, knowing that she could never manage to fight back against her when Yang got an idea in her head. Out in the clearing surrounding the house, a small circle of dirt had been made, a little sparring arena made especially for the needs of a duel between a student and a teacher. Smiling softly, Weiss looked at the blond woman that was leading her with a fond smile. It amazed her how resilient she was, even if she still had her moments of doubt. She lost an arm, a sister and her friends, but she was still smiling, still being active. She was still a force to be reckoned with. Well, at least, that was what the heiress thought. It might have been wrong, but she had the right to hope.

"Alright then, let's do this! "said the blond, grinning as she got into a fighting stance, even without her right arm. "You come at me as best as you can with your summons and glyphs and I will go without my right arm. "

"Yang, we… don't have to do this, you know? You can go take the…"

"No, I won't. What happens if the arm breaks during a fight? Or if I can't use it for some reason? And what if you're out of dust or something and you can't cast elemental glyphs? We have flaws and we need to work on those. So, use your body as a weapon or any of your non-elemental glyphs or summons and I… I will not use my right arm or semblance. You know what they say, what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger. So, come on Weiss, just like old times! "

Rolling her eyes, Weiss smiled and got in position as well. It is true that they all had flaws. Everybody has at least one, nobody is perfect. But Weiss never had the courage to face her flaws and tackle them head-on. She wasn't strong like Yang, she never was. But she could at least try to be like her. Readying her gaze, she slowly circled at the same pace Yang did. Weiss wasn't an offensive fighter, she always knew that it was never her way of shining. She could, however, be a force to be reckoned with to support her team or even go on the defensive. Her glyphs could be used in a thousand of different ways, as much as the user could find for them. Her weapon was good for one on one, but it heavily centered around a mix of blocks, parry and counterattack, thus making it good in a defensive style. With her agility and her many glyphs, she could easily change the momentum of a fight to her favor, but it was harder to gain the offensive first hand. Now without a weapon, without something to keep her grounded, she had to rely on her wits and her capacity to improvise. She smiled when she saw Yang finally attacking, and quickly a glyph appeared in front of Weiss, acting as a wall to prevent the hit to connect. Each and every punch or kick that followed was promptly blocked in a similar way, making the brawler grunt in exasperation.

"Oh, you're really building a wall of glyph? I'm going to make you pay for this! "

"Says the girl who can't hit a still target. "

The banter followed suit, just like the fight. After half an hour, multiple rounds of practice and both girls being out of breath, they collapsed on the ground, one next to the other, gasping for air as they laid still, a smile on their faces, even if Weiss had her arms crossed. Grinning, Yang poked her in the ribs, making the heiress groan when her body remembered that she also had muscles there that were hurting her.

"I won more than you did. "

"Shut up dolt, that was not the objective of that training session! "

"But I still won~ "

Groaning, Weiss stood up, before looking back at Yang with a little bit of mischief in her eyes. She rolled over the blond, sat on her stomach while running her hands on the brawler's shoulders and smiled when she saw the woman turn redder than Ruby's cloak.

"Oh, congratulation Yang, would you like to be rewarded with a prize of some sort? "

Uttering multiple sounds of incomprehension, Yang was left gawking at the heiress who simply stood up, heading back towards the house with – allegedly – a bit more sway to her than usual. Smiling, she quickly got back to her room, took a new set of clothes and dashed to the bathroom, in a dire to get rid of all her sweat.

* * *

Their training continued for the following days, the first one training with their weapons without semblance, the second day they trained in a situation in which they were outmatched, one with a weapon the other without. On the third day, they took the time to meditate and work on Weiss' summoning, managing to summon the sword, which Yang had fun swinging around. On the fourth day, they recalled Neon and Flynt from their mission, for a revenge match that ended in a win from the party team, due to both girls lack of training in the last months. They decided to take a break from training on the fifth day, to make some maintenance on and around the house, tending to the garden and doing laundry. Training was not a reason to let the house get dirty and Yang knew that her father and the heiress would both had her head if she ever was the cause of such a thing.

On the sixth day following everybody's departure, Yang woke up with a light pain in her neck. Groaning as she stood up on her bed, she yawned and rubbed the back of her head as she looked around. Weiss was still asleep next to her and it suddenly occurred to Yang that they had multiple beds and couches that the heiress could use but neither of them had thought about it. Facepalming with her robot arm, Yang groaned in pain as she almost hit her head through the headboard of her bed. But this didn't deter her amazement at the situation. She had, for the first time in a long time, used her right arm as her go-to arm for something, rather than her left. She was adjusting quickly to her new arm, she was slowly getting back to her normal self... "No… This is normal now. Nothing else. I'm just adjusting, that's all! " she said under her breath, trying not to wake up Weiss. Getting out of bed, Yang giggled softly as she heard Weiss whimpered from the loss of her personal heater in bed. Giggling, Yang undressed and got into a pair of jean shorts, red t-shirt and black jacket, removing her arm to leave it on a night stand. Even if she had got her arm back, she didn't have the luxury to always rely on it and she still had to sometime practice to live without it. It hurt her so much, regressing from two arms to only one so regularly, but she had to do it. She couldn't become a hindrance every time she was without an arm. Thus, every few days she made sure to remove her arm and live the day without it.

She quickly got through her morning routine and, while eating a bowl of cereal, she sat outside to eat on the porch. She felt happy, she felt at peace. Weiss was here, Ruby was saving the world but Qrow was taking care of her, her father was trying to rid her life from her older demons she couldn't beat. It was perfect for her. For the first time in months, she didn't have nightmares, she didn't wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat after having relived her dismemberment for the hundredth time. She closed her eyes and smiled, resting her head against the wall. Maybe she could take a quick nap and go to the town with Weiss today to buy some food. Maybe that way they'll be able to know if her disappearance had made big news or not. They had a bet, that Yang was hoping to win. After all, having one of the richest person on Remnant owing you one, could only lead to greatness. She giggled softly, imagining everything she could do with a literally limitless credit card but her laughter died in her throat when she heard voices coming from her left. Tensing, she stood up and slowly walked towards the voices, the people to whom they belonged to still hidden by the forest. Nobody came around here without having called, especially groups. At least, Yang thought, they aren't trying to hide themselves, which makes it less possible that they're Schnee agents coming to take back Weiss.

Finally, four figures came out of the wood, making Yan stop dead in her tracks a she looked at them intensely. But her gaze was quickly captured by someone else, a dark-haired woman that was following the group a few meters back, staying silent but freezing as well when their eyes met. Everybody stood still for a good minute, before a brown-haired diva grinned while crossing her arms.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? "


	13. Reconciliation

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? "

Smiling, Coco looked at Yang for a moment, before her smile quickly faded. Yang was not looking happy. Yang looked angry, her gaze locked on Blake. Everybody stood still, not a word was ushered, before Yang turned around, heading back towards her house, her fist clenched. Coco began to run towards the blond woman, before Yatsuhashi's hand grabbed her by the elbow, shaking his head softly.

"She wants to be left alone. She's angry, there's probably a ton of emotions that are going through her head. Leave her some time. "

Groaning, Coco turned around towards Blake, but yelled in anger when she saw that the cat woman had disappeared once more. Going back towards the forest, the diva punched right through a tree, splinter raining down on the area, as she slowly regained her cool. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, Coco rubbed the bridge of her nose, before turning back to her team.

"Alright. Search the area for Blake. Like hell I'm letting her get away so close to her team. This is bullshit! Spread out and warn the others if you find a clue, I - "

"Hum… Coco… I'm right here… "

Turning around, ready to strangle the black cat, Coco stopped in her tracks when she saw the greenish look on Blake. Gasping, Coco hurriedly took out her water bottle, before handing it to Blake, who happily rinsed her mouth with some water.

"What were you doing? " asked the rabbit faunus, worry filled in her voice as she looked closely at the raven-haired woman.

"Seeing Yang like this made me so guilty, I… I felt sick, so… yeah. " Nodding slowly, Velvet sat down beside Blake, both faunus kept the silence but slowly Blake smiled, not a happy smile however, a resigned smile that worried the members of team CFVY. "Well, at least, I know she hates me and doesn't want to see me. That solves my problems. " she sighed and began to stand up, straightening her clothes. "I better get away from her, that's what she wants. Maybe I'll head back home, see if there's anything that I can do in Menagerie. "

"Or maybe you could wait and see. That's the best idea Blake. You don't know how she feels. " answered the giant, sitting down in front of the cat woman, with a small smile. "Yes, she was angry, but don't forget that she might have been angry at you for a long time, for leaving her. Wait and see. That's the best thing that you could do. "

"He's right. Leave her some time. You never know what could happen. " said the bunny girl, smiling softly at the other faunus, who sighed and sat back down, hugging her knees to her chest.

* * *

"God. " _thud_ "Damn. " _thud_ "It. " _thud_ "Fucking. " _thud_ "Bitch. " _thud_ "Why. " _thud_ "Does. " _thud_ "She. " _thud_ "Come. " _thud_ "Back. " _thud_ "After. " _thud_ "All. " _thud_ "This. " _thud_ "Fucking. " _thud_ "Time. " _CRASH_ "FUCK! "

Walking in the house at a quick pace, Weiss almost tore the garage door off its hinges when she heard the repeated sound of punches on something, as well as Yang's voice. When she opened the door, she stood still, amazed at the sight. Waves of energy were traveling through Yang's hair, her eyes crimson and, most importantly, the punching bag was embedded in the garage door, part of it going through. Turning around to look at the person inside, Yang kept her eyes locked on Weiss' before she got to her knees, crying, the waves of energy slowly lessening in intensity as she kept still on the ground. Weiss dashed to her friend, taking her in her arms. Keeping the brawler close to her, the white-haired woman slowly began to sing a soothing lullaby that Klein used to sing to her in her child years. After a few minutes, Yang took a few deep breaths, calming down her sobs to a minimum.

"She… she's here. "muttered Yang, hand shaking on Weiss' shoulder, pleading lilac eyes locked on icy blue ones filled with questions. "Blake is… outside with team CFVY"

Weiss gasped as tears appeared in the corner of her eyes, a soft smile making its way as well to her lips. She rubbed her friend's back, before frowning as she looked at the other woman. Yang was looking at something in the distance, her mind lost in the past, in events that had changed her life forever, as the sight of Blake made ravages to her psyche. When she began to shudder as her mind kept on its torture, Weiss slowly rubbed her friend's back.

"Yang, snap out of it" she said softly, worry filled in her voice "It's okay, everything will be alright. I promise you. You're safe Yang"

Weiss stood still for a moment, trying to sooth Yang and make her get out of the place her mind had sent her, hunted by her demons. Taking a deep breath before kissing the brawler's forehead she whispered "I'm sorry", gulped and, mustering every ounce of courage she had, slapped Yang with all her might, waking her from her trauma filled mind with deep crimson eyes. As their eyes locked in each other, fire meeting ice, Yang growled in anger, her hand clenching in a fist.

"Why did you hit me? Do you want to be hurt? "

"If I must be hurt for taking care of one of my best friends, I'll let myself be pummeled to the ground by you, if it means that it makes you wake up! "

They kept their eyes locked, defiant against the other one, before Yang slumped back on Weiss' legs. They stood still for a few minutes, before Weiss tugged the brawler's shoulder, making her open her eyes to look at her friend with a soft smile.

"Sorry that I threatened you Weiss"

"It's okay, you've always been the fiery one anyway. "

"Did… Did you make a good joke? "

"What can I say? You are a bad influence to my behavior"

They both dissolved in a laughing fit, tension lifted off their shoulders. When they finally regained their cool, Weiss smiled softly at her friend who slowly sat up, next to her.

"Yang… I'm going to go see Blake and CFVY. And… I reckon that you should talk with her to understand why she did such a thing. Maybe you'll be able to be friends once more. "

The brawler sighed and nodded, resting her head against Weiss' shoulder, making the heiress blush. They both smiled, before they separated from each other, Weiss standing up before looking at the other woman.

"And… maybe put on something better suited than… What you are wearing. You reek of sweat. "

Rolling her eyes, Yang stood up, understanding the message, before grabbing the heiress' hand, dragging her in for a quick hug, which was quickly answered by the white-haired woman.

"Thank you, Weiss… Thank you for everything. "

"Heh, seriously, I've done nothing, your father and uncle were the ones who helped you the most"

"Maybe, but thank you. "

"You… You're welcome Yang"

* * *

"So… Are we really going to camp here? Like… Couldn't we go to the hotel or anything? "

Coco was groaning as she looked at her team setting up three tents as well as every other camping material they had, at the edge of the clearing around the house. After three weeks of sleeping in the sand she was at least hoping to lay in the comfiest, fluffiest, softest bed in Vale, but NO, she had to sleep in a god damn sleeping bag for who knows how long. At least it was comfortable to snuggle with her girlfriend.

"Or… Oh, I don't know, you could ask to have a bed inside. "

Everybody stopped what they were doing as they heard the familiar voice of the heiress. Her hands on her hips, wearing a blue dress with a white radiant from the waist to the extremity of the dress, a white pair of leggings, white high heels and a grey light jacket, she was smiling at the other ex-students, but her gaze was locked on Blake, both teens with tears in their eyes. When Blake finally smiled, Weiss ran towards her friend, who did the same. They reached each other, Blake hugging the shorter woman with all her strength, tears rolling on both their cheeks as they held at each other, happy to be reunited with someone they cared so much about.

"Hey…" said Blake softly, looking down at Weiss with a little smile

"Hey Blake" answered Weiss, happiness irradiating from her voice and body expression as she looked up at her friend.

Coughing loudly, Coco looked at them with a grin, her arms crossed at the monochrome duo, with the rest of her team smiling. Making a round of greetings, Weiss hugged her fellow students before joining the group, sitting next to Blake, a smile on her face as team CFVY explained their last mission, how they were sent to Vacuo to track the White Fang. But after a few days of hunting it quickly devolved in a rebuild and protect effort with the help of Shade academy. Nodding slowly, Weiss turned her head towards her friend, a frown on her face.

"But that doesn't explain what you're doing with them. Why did you follow them? "

Blushing, Blake looked down, fidgeting slowly, trying to control her breathing as she felt panic rise in her mind.

"Yeah kitty cat" said another voice making everybody jump in surprise to look at the newcomer. Her left hand on her hip, black pants, brown boots, orange t-shirt and a large duster coat with the right sleeve tied in a knot, completely empty, her usually unruly mane set in a high ponytail, everything about her was showcasing her beauty. Yang, even in her fragile state of mind was still beautiful, except for Blake who was afraid of what the red eyes really meant. "Tell us where you were during all those months. "

"Yang… I…" the faunus tried to speak, emotion getting the best of her, making her voice tremble as she tried to stand up to get the other woman in her arms.

"Shut it! Where. Were. You? Why are you, my partner, with another team? Why did you abandon your friends! Why did you abandon me? " her voice was cold, angry, but Weiss and Coco could hear the telltale sounds and intonations of someone who was doing everything they could to keep their emotion in check, to keep her rage at the most controllable level she could.

As Blake took a deep breath, she gazed down and she slowly told her tale, how she treated her injuries by herself before beginning her hunt of the White Fang across Remnant, from the icy peaks of Atlas, to the deadly jungles and desert of Menagerie. She smiled slightly when she retold the story of saving a young homeless boy who followed her for a few days, keeping her company. Her eyes grew darker when she described the ruined villages she kept finding along her hunt. She looked up and locked eyes with Yang, gulping hard.

"I… I tried to find Adam, to avenge you Yang, to- "

"Good grief you're dumb! "

"Yang! " shrieked the heiress as she stood up to look at the blond in the eyes. "Insulting her will not resolve anything! "

"I'm not insulting her, just telling the truth, even if it hurts" shot back Yang, her crimson eyes never leaving the ravenette "You could do nothing against him back then, what makes you believe that thing would have been different now? What would you have achieved if he killed you? "

"I would have at least atoned from my sins, atoned for everything I caused you! " said Blake as she stood up herself, her fists clenching in anger.

In a blur, Yang was in front of Blake, grabbing her by the collar of her coat, their eyes locked in each other. Weiss tried to separate them, but Coco swiftly grabbed her hand, slowly shaking her head side to side. They had issues to deal with, both of them. If they prevented them to do such, they would only keep the problems in their relationship.

"Now listen up Belladonna. There's a difference between avenging someone and getting killed trying to avenge someone. Do you even have a fucking clue why I'm angry at you? Take a guess! "

"Because you lost you arm because of me. " answered Blake in a low breath, trembling.

As soon as she finished her sentence however, a blast of energy and flames engulphed the area making everybody flinch in surprise. Yang tightened her grip around Blake's coat, anger oozing from her body.

"And here I thought that you were the smart one after Weiss! I had a big reveal planned, something great for you because I hoped that you understood! " Throwing her coat away, she ignored the gasps of surprise of everybody and the tears rolling on Blake's cheeks as her metallic arm was revealed, having been concealed inside the coat since the beginning. "A limb can be repaired. And even when it's damaged beyond repair, it can be replaced. Everybody who becomes a huntsmen or huntress makes sacrifices all the time. I sacrificed my arm for you, Weiss sacrificed everything she had to be here right now, fucking hell, Pyrrha made the biggest sacrifice of all by giving her life to try and stop this madness! I would do what I did again in a heart beat, knowing that you would be safe. "

Yang sighed and closed her eyes, before pressing her forehead against Blake's, who closed her eyes in turn, sobs shaking her body as she tried to supress the sounds that she made.

"But what I'm angry about, is that you left me. When I was knocked out, you disappeared from my life without a word. A body can be repaired, a mind as well, even if it takes time. But do you know how hard it is to repair the lost feelings that you had towards someone? " said Yang in a low voice, whispering those words against Blake who, finally, let her damn break and dissolved in a crying mess, holding Yang with all her might, nuzzling her head in the nook of the brawler's neck, who simply hold her hand.

She heard the faunus women say something, but she could only understand a few words through the sobs. Yang turned her head to look at Weiss and, with a sigh, grabbed the heiress by the hand and pulled her in the hug. In an instant all three girls were holding tight, Blake still crying, Weiss with tears in her eyes and Yang with a stoic face as she looked towards the sky, holding down her tears, trying to appear as a rock for her friends to lean on for support. Maybe she was a mess, maybe she was missing some parts of her body, but she couldn't prevent herself from going back into "mom mode", not after al those years with Ruby. After all, Blake had run away from her home, Weiss never really had a family at home and Ruby… well Ruby was Ruby. And this team of broken women, of broken teens, needed something to rest on, someone to help them through their ordeals. And Yang had decided, long ago, that she would be this person for the team, she would be their beacon in the dark, for the wellbeing of the four people she cared the most about. After a few minutes, she loosened her grip around her friends and they all disengaged themselves from each other, but they still remained close to each other. Grinning, Coco winked at Blake who blushed as she sat down next to Yang, her hand right next to the metal one of the brawler. They all talked for a while, all 7 of the young adults exchanging stories of their past, be it of Beacon of before. Team CFVY told how their initiation went, how they had to fight twenty-seven beowolves and five alpha as they fled from the temple. Weiss made everybody laugh when she recalled a story about Winter, a homemade zip line and a broken window. Blake for her part explained life on Menagerie, how was life down under. They kept at it for a few hours, simply relaxing after a few hard days, week, months. When the sun finally reached its Zenith, Yang stood up, stretching her arms and back.

"Alright. There's meat in the fridge, feel free to cook what you want. There's also a barbecue in the shed, just cook outside and everything'll be okay."

Everybody looked up at the brawler, with raised eyebrows, Weiss sighing at the blond antics.

"And where do you think you're going, leaving your friends in your own house?" asked the fashionista, with a smile, before the heiress could say anything.

"I'm going to go fetch a friend. I made a promise a few months back. I have to live up to it. I'll be back in an hour. Make sure to make food for eight. Thanks a bunch Coco. Oh, and Weiss, you're in charge of making sure that the house doesn't explode thanks!" the brawler before kissing Weiss' forehead before running off to the shed, to take her bike towards a small little village in the east of the island.

What she never saw was the pain in Blake's expression or the blush and smile from Weiss. She never saw Coco facepalm when she saw the two girl's reaction, before heading inside to begin to cook. She never saw Fox hand Yatsuhashi a stack of lien while Velvet glared at the two men of the group. With a smile, Yang took off, weaving on the small dirt paths of the island as she made way towards the village of Lili, where someone was awaiting her weekly meeting with the brawler.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, the small group perked up when they heard a motorcycle getting nearer. The monochrome pair looked back towards the road while Coco was taking out the meat and fish from the grill. They saw the motorcycle drive behind the house to go park and, as everybody was finishing up to put on the finishing touches to the picnic area, they heard Yang speak to someone else as she got near them.

"I promise you, they are super nice. And I'm sure they'll like you as much as I do." Said the brawler as she turned the corner of the house.

A million of things were going on inside Blake's head, as panic overtook her brain. Of course Yang would have someone else, she was so pretty, so kind, so strong, how could anybody like her stay single for a long time, even in her state? How could anybody like Yang have feel any love towards someone like Blake? They were so different of course, Yang couldn't like her like she did. Of course, her love wouldn't be returned in kind.

In Weiss' brain things were similar, but rather than panic it was anger. In the past week they had spent together, never had Yang spoke of someone she liked! Never had Yang told something about a relationship! Weiss was angry and was about to tell to Yang how she felt about that treason, but she was prevented from doing such by a giggling Velvet.

"So, who's that friend that we'll like Yang? Did you forget to say anything to us ab…" the bunny girl never finished her sentence, shock overcoming every brain power she had, as it did to everybody else.

In front of her stood a blushing seven-year-old girl with a small red helmet with a rose decal on the side. Wearing a pink t-shirt with black shorts, the small girl had long purple hairs with white highlights that flowed up to the middle of her back, the bangs of her hair making her bright blue eyes almost flash on her pale face. She was standing at around 4 feet tall. She slowly waved at the group of young adults who kept staring at her, until Yang cleared her throat, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised at her friends, wondering what was going on.

"So… Hum Yang…" began Coco when she regained her composure, putting down the grilled chicken on the table. "Care to explain to us who's the squirt?"

"Hey! I'm not that small!" puffed the young girl, crossing her arms in a pout, which made the fashionista grin as she swept the young girl in her arms.

"I already like you girl!"

Slowly everybody regained their cool and they all introduced themselves. She shook hands with the members of team CFVY, before stopping in front of Weiss and Blake, with little glints in her eyes as she stared at them in amazement.

"You are Weiss and Blake! You're Yang's teammate and partner! You're even more beautiful than she said!"

Yang, Weiss, and Blake all chocked as they heard what the young girl said, making Coco burst out laughing while hitting the table repeatedly, snorting and struggling to breathe normally while the other members of her team were doing barely better with Velvet hiding her laughter behind her hand.

Blushing, Weiss looked away from the girl, while Blake simply fidgeted in place, unsure of what to say. After a little awkward moment, Blake smiled softly at the young girl as she shook her hand as well.

"I am Blake yes, but… Who are you? Yang didn't tell us about you."

"Oh, my god… She's the friend you went to see when you stormed off the other day…" said Weiss as the realization finally struck her. She facepalmed and groaned, having forgotten that the friend that she went to see that day was a little 6 or 7-year-old girl. When she removed her hand, she smiled as the girl was still staring at her with a big smile. Sighing while still smiling, Weiss shook the small girl's hand while still looking at Yang and Blake who were talking, sitting down at the table to eat lunch. The heiress quickly looked back at the young girl before winking at her with a smile.

"After we have eaten, I'm counting on you to tell me what Yang has told you about us. Deal?"

"Deal!" answered the young girl with a wink of her own, dashing quickly to sit next to Yang.

Looking at the table of friends, Weiss couldn't hold her smile and took out her scroll to send a message to Flynt and Neon, telling them that they could come back, after a week of surveillance they had done enough.

"Weiss, hurry up or you won't have anything to eat!"

"I would if Blake didn't eat all the fish!"

"It's mine!" said the cat faunus, exaggerating her reaction to make their new friend laugh.

Maybe, after all this time thought the ravenette as she looked at the blond brawler next to her, they could still become close like they used to. Maybe she still had a chance for another family. One that she stopped running from.

And looking at Yang having fun with the young 7-year-old only managed to send the faunus' brain in overdrive, imagining a small child with blond hair, amber eyes and a pair of cat ears on her head. In a second Blake turned her head away, blushing as she avoided Coco's grin. She didn't need this right now.

They were happy and having fun. It was a first in 8 months for the cat faunus. She wanted to make the most of it. Who knows how long it would take before the situation became Grimm once more.


End file.
